DoD Identifies Navy Casualties

Ravage

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The Department of Defense announced today the death of three sailors who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died July 6 as a result of enemy action while conducting combat operations in the vicinity of Baghdad, Iraq. The three sailors were assigned to an East Coast-based SEAL team.

Killed were:

Petty Officer First Class Jason Dale Lewis, 30, of Brookfield, Conn.,

Petty Officer First Class Robert Richard McRill, 42, of Lake Placid, Fla.,

Petty Officer First Class Steven Phillip Daugherty, 28, of Barstow, Calif.

For further information related to this release, contact Naval Special Warfare Group Two Public Affairs at 757-462-2282.

A sad day indeed :(
 
Three sailors from Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek were killed in Iraq on Friday, marking the deadliest day for local troops since 2005 when six Navy SEALs were killed in Afghanistan.

The first class petty officers -- Jason Lewis, a 30-year-old SEAL; Steven P. Daugherty, a 28-year-old cryptologic technician; and Robert McRill, a 42-year-old combat photographer -- were assigned to an East Coast SEAL team. They died after an improvised explosive device detonated near their Humvee while conducting combat operations in Baghdad.

"Petty Officers Lewis, Daugherty and McRill were patriots in the truest sense," Navy Capt. Chaz Heron, commander of Little Creek's Naval Special Warfare Group Two, said in a press release.

"They had a combined 34 years of dedicated service to our country, and their sacrifices and commitment will live on in each of us."

Heron said the trio "embodied the Navy core values of honor, courage and commitment time and again in training and on the battlefield."

Lewis joined the Navy in 1996 and graduated from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in February 1997. He arrived at an East Coast-based SEAL team in early 2006 and is survived by a wife and three children in Virginia Beach.

Daugherty enlisted in 1991 and following basic training attended Naval Intelligence Training in Florida. He is survived by a son and parents.

McRill also signed up for the Navy in 1991. Before reporting to Defense Photo School in Florida, McRill served as a naval aviator. He served on the Naval Station Norfolk-based aircraft carriers USS Theodore Roosevelt and Eisenhower.

His wife and three children live in Yorktown.

Since the U.S invaded in March 2003, nearly 40 troops with ties to Hampton Roads have been killed in Iraq.

All told, more than 3,500 have died and another 26,400 wounded, according to Defense Department statistics.
 
May they all rest in peace.

Jason was a member of s**net - Joe556. Does anyone remember the thread about snow - he was so excited because he was going to be able to play with his kids in the snow for the first time (They had been born in CA and hadn't seen snow yet).

I PMed with him a few times. I had extra tickets to the SEAL Warrior Fund dinner held on the Intrepid two years ago, so I invited him and his wife. They couldn't find a babysitter on a weeknight, so they couldn't attend. IIRC, he told me that he had gotten out of the Navy, but wasn't happy with civilian life and was in the process of going back in. His family is in my prayers.
 
RIP Petty Officers Lewis, McRill, and Daugherty. My thoughts and prayers are with the members of their SEAL team, and the families and friends of the men back at home.

Jason was a member of s**net - Joe556. Does anyone remember the thread about snow - he was so excited because he was going to be able to play with his kids in the snow for the first time (They had been born in CA and hadn't seen snow yet).
I do recall that thread, ex, and I am sad to hear of his passing...

Yesterday Governor Rell ordered all flags in Connecticut to fly at half mast in honor of Connecticut resident Petty Officer First Class Jason Dale Lewis...
 
Remembering Brookfield native Jason Dale Lewis

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BROOKFIELD-- Prayers were offered in local churches on Sunday as the town mourned the death of U.S. Navy SEAL Jason Dale Lewis, the second Brookfield native to die in Iraq since 2005.

The 30-year-old Lewis, a 1995 Brookfield High School graduate and a special warfare operator first class, was one of three sailors killed when a homemade explosive device blew up beneath their Humvee in Baghdad on Friday.

"He was a wonderful man and he loved his children very much," Lewis' widow, Donna (Tyranski) Lewis said in a brief telephone interview Sunday afternoon. Lewis' family declined further comment and referred all other questions to military officials.

First Selectman Jerry Murphy, said the thoughts of the entire town were with the dead serviceman's family.

"Brookfield is a warm community, and we feel terrible about the death of this fine young man," Murphy said, adding that the town would hold some kind of observance to honor Lewis when his family feels it would be appropriate.

"We will definitely do something, but not without getting the approval from his family first," Murphy said.

The Rev. Ann Beams, pastor of the Valley Presbyterian Church, said that her congregation offered prayers on Lewis' behalf at worship services Sunday morning.


"I saw in the newspaper that Brookfield had lost another service person, and I asked the people to pray for his family," she said.

Lewis became the 40th active duty service member with Connecticut ties , and the second from Brookfield, to die in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001.

In March, 2005, 21-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. John T. Schmidt III died from injuries sustained in a firefight near Fallujah.

Lewis, the father of three children, enlisted in the Navy in July 1996, and after completing recruit training in November, earned a spot with the elite, special operations unit -- known by the acronym for Sea, Air, Land -- the following February.

SEALs are the naval counterpart to the Army's Green Berets, and considered to be among the among the best commando forces in the world.

Lewis was assigned to an East Coast-based SEAL team that was stationed in Virginia Beach, Va. A Navy spokesman on Sunday couldn't say how long Lewis had been in Iraq or whether he served any prior tours there.

"As a retired Navy captain, I dealt with SEALs for years," First Selectman Murphy said. "If they are not the best fighting unit in the world, they are close."

A former high school friend and current Brookfield resident, Chris Brown, recalled Lewis as a charismatic individual who "could light up a room" when he entered.

"He was an outdoors kind of guy who was military-oriented, and he had the kind of ingenuity that it would take to become a SEAL," Brown said. "It took me back when I saw his name this morning."
 
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