Flags half mast at Yorba Linda for Cottle and Centanni

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER NEWS

YORBA LINDA – Flags will be flown at half staff through next week in Yorba Linda, where a community reeling from the loss of two local Marines is searching for ways to show support for the men's families.
Sgt. Major Robert J. Cottle, 45, and Lance Cpl. Rick J. Centanni, 19, were killed early Wednesday by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Afghanistan, relatives and authorities said.
The flags at Yorba Linda City Hall were lowered to half mast following the news that Marine Lance Cpl. Rick J. Centanni, 19, and Sgt. Major Robert J. Cottle, 45, both of Yorba Linda, were killed in action in Afghanistan. Both were riding in a vehicle that was destroyed by an improvised explosive device early Wednesday.

Cottle was a 27-year veteran Marine and high-ranking SWAT officer for the Los Angeles Police Department who was married to a naval officer and had a 9-month-old daughter.

Centanni was a 2008 graduate of Esperanza High School whose love for the Marines inspired four of his best friends to enlist with and convinced each and every one of us to join," Lance Cpl. Joseph Patterson said. "We saw the way he was when he came out of boot camp, the sense of accomplishment and pride he had. We all wanted to serve our country together..