From NY Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/336290p-287262c.html
When Scott Harper's buddies found out it was their friend who plunged from the upper deck at Yankee Stadium, they were shocked for a moment - but not surprised.
The 18-year-old from Westchester County is a dedicated underachiever who organized his senior class prank and once vowed to get face time on an ESPN highlight show
The underage Harper, who told cops he had had "several beers" without saying where he got them, hopped over the rail on a dare and fell to the net, where he sat stunned for a moment, then clambered up and was taken away by cops. He left a 12-inch-by-18-inch hole in the net, prosecutors said.
Harper, who faces up to a year in jail, lives in a million-dollar home on a cul-de-sac in Armonk, one of Westchester's more exclusive towns.
But instead of preparing to enroll in a pricey private college like his friends, Harper will attend Westchester Community College this fall.
and, From the Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3235905
An 18-year-old soldier from Columbus died Monday from injuries suffered in an ambush by Iraqi insurgents outside Mosul.
The Defense Department on Tuesday confirmed Army Pfc. Christopher Kilpatrick, who enlisted last year three months shy of his 18th birthday, was killed in an attack in Tal Afar, Iraq.
According to his family, Kilpatrick was mortally wounded during an early morning firefight with insurgents who halted his truck with a bomb blast that flattened the tires. Kilpatrick, who was riding in the lead truck of a convoy, was airlifted to a hospital, but died en route.
Kilpatrick, of the 603rd Transportation Company stationed out of Fort Polk, La., was a 2004 graduate of Columbus High School and enlisted in March of last year.
"He was caring, he was funny, he was a leader," said his father, Scott Kilpatrick. During his last year in high school, Kilpatrick and his father argued over his desire to join the Army.
"By golly, he stood his ground and I stood mine," Scott Kilpatrick said. But eventually, with his son's 18th birthday months away, Scott Kilpatrick relented and signed the enlistment papers.
Kilpatrick liked excitement and was not the kind to back down from a dare, his family said. It was the promise of adventure that lured him into the Army, his father said.
"He took risks, he was brave," his mother, Tracy Hanak, said. "He kept us on our toes. He had no fear. He was my first born, he was the apple of my eye."
Hours before his death, Kilpatrick called his dad to wish him a happy Father's Day, Scott Kilpatrick said. They didn't have much time to talk; the young soldier was busy getting ready for his upcoming assignment, his father said.
"We talked for a little bit, he told me he loved me," Scott Kilpatrick said. "I told him that I loved him and I thought to myself that I couldn't wait for him to come home.
"We'll see each other again in heaven."