An ISU alumnus was killed earlier this month in Iraq, increasing the number of former students killed in the conflict to two.

First Lt. David Giaimo, 24, of Waukegan, Ill., was killed Aug. 12 in Tikrit when the Humvee he was riding in struck a land mine, according to a Department of Defense news release. Giaimo could be memorialized in Gold Star Hall in the Memorial Union, although a committee must meet to decide whether he meets the criteria for inclusion and when his name could be engraved in the hall.

“He was a very studious worker, he got along well with his peers,” said Maj. Harry Meyer, an instructor for Army ROTC and commander of the American Legion in Ames.

“He took his job seriously, he loved the Army, he was here with us for over four years on scholarship. He met all four criteria perfectly; it’s a cut and dry thing.”

Lt. Col. Lawrence Braue, instructor for the Army Reserve Officer’s Training Corp at Iowa State, described Giaimo as “an outstanding young man,” and said he should be memorialized alongside ISU student and faculty casualties of past wars.

“I believe if anyone deserves to be there, he does,” Braue said.

Kathy Svec, program coordinator for the Memorial Union, said a family friend has already inquired about memorializing Giaimo.

“We need documentation on four criteria, once we receive that information we would be able to consider the name,” she said. “We will be appointing a committee this fall to review any requests we have had.”

Svec said for past wars, names were not added to the hall until after the official end date to allow for as complete a list as possible to be compiled.

“There has been a considerable delay,” she said, adding that the names have always been listed alphabetically.

Svec said the names of World War I casualties were installed 10 years after the conflict ended, and World War II, Vietnam and Korea casualties were installed in 1984.

“Traditionally, after hostilities have ended then the names have gone on the wall,” Meyer said. “Right now, the proposal that I talked to other members of the board was, because this conflict could last a number of years, we just can’t wait until the end.”

He said he would like to see Giaimo and another former student killed last year in Iraq, Robert Gore, memorialized in the hall in a ceremony on Sept. 11, 2006.

“I’m going to fight on that one to get it on, it’s a little grayer, but Giaimo’s is cut and dry,” Meyer said.

Gore only meets three of the four criteria for inclusion in the hall, as he was working as an independent contractor in Iraq when he died, but according to the Gold Star Hall Web site, “No criteria will fit every case and therefore, judgments must be made.”

“He put that idea out, but the committee has not met yet to even consider the proposal,” Svec said.

Memorial Union officials will make the final decision after receiving input from the Gold Star Hall Committee.

“I really think our preferred route is going to be waiting until we have as complete a list as we can make,” Svec said. “It does mean waiting until the end of the conflict.”

Meyer said an announcement on when Giaimo should be memorialized could come during the fall semester.

He said Giaimo attended Iowa State on a full Army ROTC scholarship, and after graduating in December 2003 worked on staff for a semester before leaving for officer basic training in summer 2004.

“He was one of those guys, it was almost impossible to hate, he was just such a nice guy,” he said. “You always ask yourself, why is it that the good people die.”

Giaimo’s family did not want to be contacted for comment.