In Memoriam

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#21

6 August 2011

US Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Nicholas P. Spehar, from Minnesota, was killed in action on 6th August 2011 when the helicopter he was in was shot down by enemy forces in Wardak province, Afghanistan.

The 24-year-old officer served with a West-coast based Navy Special Warfare unit.

Article, with photo, from WAVY.com

[Grace]

#22

6 August 2011

Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Jesse D. Pittman, from Ukiah, California, was killed in action on 6th August 2011 when the helicopter he was in was shot down by enemy forces in Wardak province, Afghanistan.

From the Daily Sentinel, Colorado -

Jesse Pittman made it known he wanted to become a SEAL during his second summer working as a seasonal firefighter for California's forestry department. He trained in his off-time with an ex-SEAL to prepare.

He was a hard worker who shared a love of hotrods with his father and older brother, and he did odd jobs at an automotive repair shop in his hometown of Willits, Calif., to learn how to build and repair cars.

Despite being a leader on his fire crew and having a good career ahead of him as a firefighter, Pittman made it clear becoming a SEAL was his passion.

"He liked to be challenged, and I think that challenge is what drew him to both of those careers," his friend Chris Wilkes told the San Francisco Chronicle. "When he told me he wanted to be a Navy SEAL, I told him he had been watching too much TV. But he said, 'No, I can do that.'"

[Grace]

#23

6 August 2011

36-year-old US Navy Special Warfare Operator, Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher G. Campbell, from Jacksonville, North Carolina, was killed in action on 6th August 2011 when the helicopter he was in was shot down by enemy forces in Wardak province, Afghanistan. He served with an East-coast based Navy SEAL unit.

From the Daily Sentinel, Colorado -

Chris Campbell may have been physically slight, but family and friends said the Navy SEAL was always ready to take on a challenge.

His mother, Diane Campbell, told The Daily News of Jacksonville she remembered him and his older brother learning to ride a unicycle brought back from Okinawa as one example of her son's determination.

"If Chris thought he could, he would try," Diane Campbell said.

Former high school football coach Jack Baile remembered Campbell, 36, showing he was up to a test when he tried out for the team as a smallish junior at about 5 foot-7 and 140 pounds.

"When kids come out for football for the first time, the first thing you're worried about is, are they going to like to be hit, or want to be hit, and like to hit. That was not a problem with Chris. He had no fear with that," Baile told The Associated Press.

"I remember hearing for the first time when he had joined the SEALS, I thought that kind of fits Chris. He didn't have a lot of fear of things and I think he always wanted to try to prove to somebody that he could do things. He was an adventurous-type guy."

Campbell's work frequently sent him on missions out of the country, and his family asked few questions when he showed up with a full beard or arrived for a visit that could only last three hours. In an email to his daughter Samantha sent days before the crash, he wrote that he was looking forward to coming home in November and celebrating her 15th birthday in January.

Chris Campbell told his family that if he was killed in the line of duty, he wanted the local newspaper to write about his life and death, with a request for donations in his memory to the Wounded Warrior Project. The project helps wounded service members recover from their war injuries.

[Grace]

FYI, I have added information to several of the previously posted notices. They are numbers 1, 3, 4, and 12.

[Grace]

#24

6 August 2011

US Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jared W. Day, from Taylorsville, Utah, was killed in action on 6th August 2011 when the helicopter he was in was shot down by enemy forces in Wardak province, Afghanistan.

The 28-year-old Information Systems Technician served with an East-coast based Navy SEAL unit.

From the Daily Sentinel, Colorado -

Jared William Day grew up in the Salt Lake City area and joined the Navy in 2002 "because he loved his country, the people who live here, and the freedoms we all have," his family said.

The 28-year-old Navy SEAL had participated in multiple missions around the world, and was an Information Systems Technician First Class, a family statement said.

"He was truly special, not only to our family, but to this country," his family said. "Jared's memory will live in our hearts forever."

His family also described him as being "determined with a fierce sense of humor."

Day rose to become an elite member of a Naval Special Warfare unit where he served as tactical commander.

Day's family attended a ceremony for the soldiers earlier this week at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where they were given a few minutes with President Barack Obama.

[Grace]

# 25 & 26

6 August 2011

US Navy Petty Officer 1st Class John Douangdara, from South Sioux City, Nebraska, was killed in action on 6th August 2011 when the helicopter he was in was shot down by enemy forces in Wardak province, Afghanistan.

The 26-year-old Master-at-Arms was the lead dog-handler serving with an East-coast based Navy SEAL unit. His dog, Bart, died with him in the crash.

Petty Officer Douangdara's parents fled Lao and later emigrated to the United States. He enlisted in the Navy in February 2003. Upon completion of his initial training, he served in Sicily. He joined his SEAL team in January 2008.

His awards include the Bronze Star with “V” device, Joint Service Commendation Medal with “V” Device, Army Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (3), Rifle Marksmanship Medal, and the Pistol Marksmanship Medal.

Bart was a US Navy Special Warfare Operations dog, belonging to the East-coast Navy SEAL team. He was killed in action on 6th August 2011 when the helicopter he was in was shot down by enemy forces in Wardak province, Afghanistan.

Bart died alongside his handler, US Navy Petty Officer 1st Class John Douangdara.

Bart has his own Facebook Memorial page.

From the Daily Sentinel, Colorado -

John Douangdara told his family very little about his duties in the military. They didn't even know he took part in operations with the Navy SEALs.

But his mother, Sengchanh Douangdara, said it was clear the 26-year-old master at arms petty officer 1st class from South Sioux City, Neb., was committed to the military and proud to serve the country that adopted his Laotian family decades ago. Douangdara was Naval Special Warfare personnel, who support the SEALs.

"I know that he loved his job. It was a job he chose," she told the Sioux City Journal.

She recalled her son as "the middle child, very quiet."

Douangdara's parents fled communist forces in their native Laos in 1979, then immigrated to the United States after the birth of their first child. John was born four years later, the third of five children his parents would raise in South Sioux City, a Missouri River town along the border with Iowa.

The oldest child, Chan Follen, said her family's sadness is tempered by pride in Douangdara's service to the U.S.

"We are proud Johnny fought for the country that embraced our family and gave us the opportunity to reach for the American dream," Follen said.

[Grace]

#27

6 August 2011

US Navy Chief Petty Officer John W. Faas, from Minneapolis, was killed in action on 6th August 2011 when the helicopter he was in was shot down by enemy forces in Wardak province, Afghanistan.

The 31-year-old Special Warfare Operator served with an East-coast based Navy SEAL unit.

From the Daily Sentinel, Colorado -

Top of his class. Quarterback. Team captain.

John Faas' football coach had encouraged the natural-born leader to consider applying to a service academy to become a military officer, but Faas had decided in middle school that he wanted to become a Navy SEAL.

The 31-year-old from Minneapolis never wavered about his goal, joining the elite fighting force and becoming a chief petty officer.

"This is where John felt he was called," said Ron Monson, the football coach at Minnehaha Academy, a private Christian school in Minneapolis where Faas graduated as the 1998 class valedictorian.

The coach said Faas never showed bravado and didn't fit the Hollywood stereotype of a SEAL. Instead, the son of Gretchen and Robert Faas of Minneapolis, was the guy who always stood up for his fellow students.

"John was a man of unquestionable integrity and courage, as were those he served with," his family said in a statement. "He became a SEAL to serve his country and to make the world a better place for those less fortunate."