santoriello became the 18th soldier from Western Pennsylvania to be killed in Iraq and the 51st statewide. He is the first casualty from Pittsburgh's eastern suburbs.

A neighbor who lives across Springwood Drive from the soldier's parents said santoriello, who leaves behind a wife near the base in Kansas, left for Iraq less than a year ago.

"I bought a flag and I knew he was going, and I put it up the day he left," said neighbor Tom Garscia.

Several cars lined the street yesterday outside the santoriello home. A tree wrapped with a yellow ribbon stood in the family's front yard.

santoriello was "quiet and respectful," addressing elders as "mister and missus," Garscia said.

Enlisting in the military was "all he wanted to do," Garscia said. "Even when he was growing up, his whole heart was in it."

Dan Fitzhenry, of Penn Hills, was an assistant Scout master when santoriello, who eventually became an Eagle Scout, was a member of Boy Scout Troop 139 in Verona and Penn Hills.

"His goal in life was always the military," Fitzhenry said.

santoriello graduated from Penn Hills High School and Dickinson College, where he was a member of the ROTC, friends and neighbors said.

Members of santoriello's Boy Scout troop were saddened by the news of his death.

"When I heard someone from our troop died, I didn't think it could be him," said John Hackett, of Verona, who was santoriello's Scout master when he earned his Eagle Scout rank about seven years ago. "As a Scout master, he was like a son. It's a real loss."

"Neil was very bright, he was a brilliant, good kid," Hackett said. "I always said one day he would be a leader in our nation. Now he won't get a chance to do that."

santoriello took Scouting seriously, Hackett said, building an archery course in Boyce Park as his Eagle Scout project.

santoriello didn't forget his fellow Scouts when he went away to college, Fitzhenry said.

"Sometimes we were getting ready for a Scouting event on a Friday night, and around 6 p.m. we could get a call from Neil, who was home from college," Fitzhenry said. "He would say he was home and ask if he could come."

Fitzhenry said the other Scouts enjoyed santoriello's visits.

"He was a great example to the other boys," Hackett said. "They have lost a big brother."

Penn Plum Post 6836 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars will conduct a ceremony at the funeral home if his family requests one, said Ervin Boyd, the adjutant at the VFW post.