#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.'"