SEAL of Honor (33 page)

With full military honors, Petty Officer Jeffrey Allen Lucas was laid to rest in Section 60, site 8229, in Arlington National Cemetery, “Where Valor Proudly Sleeps.”

The Jeff Lucas Memorial Fund was established by his family as a 501 (c) (3) corporation to construct a lasting memorial to Jeff. A stadium grandstand and football sports complex will be built at Corbett High School. It will be dedicated as the Jeff Lucas Memorial Veterans Stadium. In addition, family and friends have established the Seth A. Lucas Fund.

Chief Fontan was born on November 11, 1968, in New Orleans, to Earl and Hazel Fontan. After graduating from Brother Martin High School in 1986, he attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette prior to enlisting in the U.S. Navy on March 7, 1989. Following graduation from the Recruit Training Command at Naval Station Great Lakes, he completed Fire Controlman “A” school at Fleet Combat Training Center, Dam Neck, Virginia. He then transferred to the USS
Nicholas
(FFG-47),
Charleston, South Carolina, and then to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron One in Jacksonville, Florida. After graduating from BUD/S on October 23, 1998, he was assigned to SEAL Team Eight, Little Creek, Virginia, then to Naval Special Warfare Group Two, and subsequently to SEAL Team Ten, Little Creek, Virginia.

Chief Fontan was buried with full military honors. He is survived by his parents, his wife, Charissa, and his daughter, Jourdan.

Jeffrey S. Taylor was born on May 18, 1975, in Beckley, West Virginia. He attended Independence High School in Coal City, West Virginia, before enlisting in the Navy on June 20, 1994. His duty assignments included the Recruit Training Command, Naval Station Great Lakes, in Illinois; Naval School of Health Sciences, San Diego, California; Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Virginia; Field Medical Service School, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; SEAL Team Eight, Little Creek, Virginia; USS
Theodore Roosevelt
(CVN-71), Norfolk, Virginia; John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and SEAL Team Ten, Little Creek, Virginia.

Jeffrey Taylor’s wife Erin scattered his ashes over Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery.

James Erik Suh was born in Coronado, California, but later moved with his family to Deerfield Beach, Florida. James and his sister Claudia were raised by their singleparent father, Solomon Suh, a Korean immigrant. James excelled in all of his academic subjects in school and was placed in a program for gifted students. He was especially strong in math, but also proved to be a talented artist and athlete. James graduated from high school in June 1995, but as he prepared to enter the University of Florida, he also began thinking seriously about joining the Navy SEALs.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in statistics in 1999, James enlisted in the Navy in January 2001. He began his BUD/S training with Class 237 in July and received his SEAL Trident in February 2001. Following successful completion of SEAL Delivery Vehicle training, he was assigned to SDVT-1 in Hawaii in December 2003. In April 2005 he and his teammates of Alfa Platoon went to Afghanistan on
what was his first deployment. Petty Officer Second Class James E. Suh was killed while serving as a member of the QRF in Operation Red Wings on June 28, 2005.

James E. Suh was buried with full military honors in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood, California, on July 30, 2005. His funeral was attended by fifty of his SDVT-1 teammates. James’ father, Solomon, was presented the burial flag by Rear Admiral Joseph Maguire, Commander, Naval Special Warfare.

Stephen C. Reich was born on May 22, 1971, in Cleveland, Ohio, His family moved to Washington, Connecticut, when he was four years old. His father was a teacher and coach and his mother a nurse at the local community hospital. At Shepaug Valley Regional High School, he was a triple-sport standout in wrestling, basketball, and baseball. After high school, he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, receiving his commission in 1993. While at West Point, he set numerous pitching records for the baseball team, several of which stand today. Reich graduated with dual degrees in Arabic and Spanish.

Following his commissioning, he received permission to play baseball for Team USA during the summer of 1993, receiving the honor of carrying the American flag in the opening ceremonies of the World University Games at Buffalo New York’s Rich Stadium. After initial flight qualification school, he was assigned to the University of Kentucky’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and played professional baseball in the Baltimore Orioles organization, having received a waiver from the Army. Reich entered the Army’s World Class Athlete Program in 1995 to train for the 1996 U.S. Olympic team trials.

In 1996, after receiving UH-60 Blackhawk transition training, he was ordered to Germany, where he served as platoon leader in Company A, 5th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment. While in Germany he became fluent in German, his third foreign language. During his subsequent tour with the 12th Aviation Brigade, he served in Operation Allied Force, deploying to Hungary, Bosnia, Albania, and Kosovo.

Returning from Germany in 2000, Reich attended the Infantry Captains Career Course at Fort Benning, Georgia, followed by the Combined Arms and Services Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Upon arrival at the 160th
Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) in 2001, he deployed with the 2nd Battalion to Operation Enduring Freedom as a battle captain in support of Task Force Dagger, a special operations unit seeking the capture or death of Osama bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountain cave network of Afghanistan.

In December 2001 he served as operations officer for the 2nd Battalion’s detachment of MH-47E aircraft in Afghanistan. He commanded Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion from February 2002 through May 2003. Having been promoted to major, Reich then completed a one-year deployment to Daegu, Republic of Korea, as the operations officer for E Company, 160th SOAR. Other specialized military training consisted of the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) Level-C course, the Army Airborne School, and the Air Assault School.

Two weeks after his marriage to his wife, Jill, on March 19, 2005, he deployed to Bagram Airfield for his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan.

A private military ceremony was conducted at Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia on July 7, and a memorial service was also held in Washington, Connecticut, at the Bryan Memorial Town Hall on July 10, which was attended by more than a thousand family members, friends, and town residents.

Although he was extremely confident, he was soft-spoken and never arrogant. In fact, his parents and bride did not know the actions for which he had received
his first two Bronze Stars until after his death. Unfortunately, all are acutely aware of the actions that resulted in his third.

Each year on July 4, the Steve Reich Memorial Freedom Run is conducted in Washington, Connecticut, with proceeds going to the Steve Reich Memorial Scholarship Program benefiting students at his high school alma mater.

The youngest of eight children of Elmer and Marjorie Scherkenbach, Chris was born on November 3, 1964, in Des Plaines, Illinois. He graduated from Prospect High School in 1982, then moved with his parents to Palm Harbor, Florida, following his father’s retirement from Ford Motor Company. The elder Scherkenbach had previously served as a decorated B-17 bomber pilot in World War II.

Chris graduated from the St. Petersburg Junior College and immediately enlisted in the U.S. Army as a communications specialist. He completed basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in April 1987 and his training as an automatic data telecommunications center operator at Fort Gordon, Georgia, in July 1987. He then transferred to his first duty station in Germany.

Upon his return he was accepted into the Warrant Officer Program at Fort Rucker, Alabama, in 1990. After graduating that same year, he was immediately sent to the Aviation Warrant Officer Basic Course and Initial Entry Rotary Wing (helicopter) training. After completing his CH-47D aircraft qualifications at Fort Rucker, he was assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. He was then assigned to Camp Humphreys in South Korea as an MH-47D Chinook pilot. After completing his tour there, he returned to the 159th Aviation Regiment.

While on a fitness run in a local Savannah, Georgia, park, he met his future wife, Michelle, a physician’s assistant at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. They were married on September 20, 1997.

Chris was selected for the Army’s Degree Completion Program, graduating magna cum laude with a B.S. in aeronautics from the prestigious Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, the world’s largest aerospace university in March 2005.

His final assignment was Company B, 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. On Friday, May 27, 2005, he deployed to Afghanistan. He was the pilot of the MH-47D shot down while attempting the midday rescue in Operation Red Wings.

Chris and Michelle were in the final stages of adopting an infant from China. On the day he was killed, Michelle had sent him an e-mail message confirming
travel arrangements to China. That e-mail was found in the pocket of his flight suit after his body was recovered.