Army Corporal Nick Arvanitis was shot and killed in Iraq earlier this month.
The former Salem resident was buried Tuesday.
Nick Arvanitis was remembered as a soldier, as a champion wrestler, as a friend.
But most of all, he was remembered as a young man who loved to play his guitar.
New Hampshire Public Radio's Dan Gorenstein has more.
Brandon Oberkrieser stares past his computer screen.
The Berklee College of Music student is quietly loading a song performed by Thrall, the band he and Arvanitis and drummer Bill Croft started in high school.
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:03 Thrall song up- fade down low. Run under next bite.
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5:06 that song is called the Secret Dumpwater of Jolly Rogers. I am not sure what it means. It's a goofy title. It confuses people, and Nick liked to make people confused.
(Keep music low)
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13:05...He wanted something that was heavy and fast and he wanted to see how many riffs he could pack into one song....we had written songs, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, and he had always wanted to be original...and push the boundaries of what people typically hear.
(Post music. Fade down. Keep underneath track.)
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14:23 he would just sit at home and listen to music. He would listen to death metal bands, black metal bands, thrash metal bands, classic metal bands classic rock bands.
(Begin fade down)
In high school, Brandon says Nick's musical interests widened when he joined the school's jazz band.
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7:26 ... that was a whole new experience for him. he had just been playing rock and metal and hadn't opened up to jazz at all...there were a couple of people who had killer chops...and I remember them helping Nick with his tone and technique. And I think that was one of the things that really helped him.
Nick's sister Kim remembers her brother's glee as he tried to learn a new jazz tune.
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6:01...I will never forget, I am home, I am talking to my brother, and I ask him, what you doing and he says, listen to this.
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....It's called the Puffy Taco. He thought the name was a riot. Yeah, I am playing the Puffy Taco. Sitting there, playing his guitar.
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Nick could enjoy playing any instrument.
When the Salem High School marching band went to Pasadena, California to play in the Rose Bowl Parade, Nick marched right along with him...playing the sousaphone.
But his heart remained with his group Thrall.
Over four years, the group cut two cds.
Then like most high school bands, Thrall faded away.
Nick finished high school in 2003.
Kim says her brother had known in the months following September 11th that he wanted to join the Army.
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:04 He was 17 and he asked my mom, I need you to sign this for me....my family kept on saying to him, you know, you've got the talent, why don't you do the music thing?' he was like, 'no. that can come later. I really, really want to go into the military.' We debated about it. My mom debated about it. you could tell it kind of broke her heart. Not going into music right away.
Even in the military, Nick hardly left music behind.
Friends say every time he came home, he returned with new guitar licks, and ideas about music.
Kim says, after she was told her brother had been killed, stories from Army buddies started flooding in.
But one in particular makes her smile.
A few days before deployment, Nick and a group of soldiers went to a club to have a few drinks and hear some music.
One of Nick's friends walked into the room where the band was playing and saw something unexpected.
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5:40 my brother was up on the stage. He had taken one of the guitarists guitars out of their hand and started jamming out to a Pantera song. So hard, that he dropped the pick, and he didn't even realize it. and everyone was going wild. Just going crazy. And he had gotten everyone in that party mode. Even though they had the thought of what was going to come- in a few days they were off to war- my brother was still out there, being the life of the party and just playing. That was him.
Nick Arvanitis had brought several guitars with him to his home base at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.
His sister expects the guitars to be shipped home soon.
For NHPR News, I’m DG.
