Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Former Vegas resident killed in Baghdad explosion

A soldier who formerly lived in Las Vegas was killed in Baghdad on Saturday, the Defense Department reported Tuesday.

Army Cpl. Stanley J. Lapinski, 35, was assigned to the Army's 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. He was killed when an improvised explosive detonated near the vehicle he was riding in, according to military officials.

Lapinski was on his first tour in Iraq and had been there for four months when he was killed, his 61-year-old mother, Gaynell Lapinski, said.

Gaynell Lapinski, who lives in Beverly Hills, Fla., said she received reports that several soldiers who were with Lapinski in the Humvee were also reportedly wounded in the blast.

"He must have taken the full impact (of the blast) because he died instantly," she said she was told by the military.

Gaynell Lapinski said her son had enlisted in the Army at the age of 34 -- relatively late in life. The terrorist attacks in 2001 and the U.S. efforts to combat terrorism in the wake of the those attacks inspired him to enlist, she said.

She recalled that her son would often say, "We can't let people come and do this" after the attacks, and even though she thought he was just gripped by the patriotic fervor that had swept over America, he signed up in Las Vegas to join the infantry in October 2003.

"He just decided at the age of 34 that he was going to fight," Gaynell Lapinski said.

She said Lapinski lived in Las Vegas from 1988 to 1991 and again from 1996 to 2003 and attended UNLV for two years before transferring to the University of Southern Florida. Lapinski earned a bachelor's degree in psychology, she said.

Lapinski had a difficult time finding a job after he graduated from college and eventually took a job at a Circuit City electronics store in Florida, she said.

He moved back to Las Vegas in 1996 and continued working at a Circuit City store here until he enlisted in the army.

Scott Pauzar, who had known Lapinski since they both attended high school in Florida, said they were roommates in Las Vegas from 1999 to 2003. Pauzar was attending law school at UNLV at the time and said he is now a prosecutor in Fort Myers, Fla.

"I tried to talk him out of going into the infantry but he (Lapinski) said no. He said he didn't want to sit behind some desk," Pauzar said.

Pauzar said that Lapinski was fully aware of the danger of infantry duty. Lapinski researched the idea of joining the infantry, and in the end enlisted, he said.

"He went in with his eyes wide open," Pauzar said. "He felt like he wanted to do something to help."

Rebecca Zisch, who said she dated Lapinski off and on beginning in 1999, described him as a highly intelligent man who spent much of his time reading.

"He was well-versed in history, politics -- he was so well-informed about so many subjects" she said.

Zisch, who lives in Las Vegas and works as a commentator on KNPR and as a women's studies instructor at UNLV, also said Lapinksi was very active in the local music scene.

She said it wasn't necessarily a surprise when Lapinski enlisted into the Army, saying that while it "wasn't the uniform I would have chosen for him," the war was something he believed in.

"He had a solid understanding of why we might need to engage in that conflict," she said.

Metro Police Officer Jorge Ralat, who also was friends with Lapinski, said that he was also not surprised by Lapinski's choice to join the Army.

"He wanted to be a part of history. It (his death) has affected us all and made the war a little more real," he said.

Zisch said a wake for Lapinski will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday at Champagnes, 3557 S. Maryland Parkway.

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