http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/...cle_162d81b5-d5c8-5cad-9842-917a7923a3ea.html
The Sunday before he was killed, Patrick Feeks sent an email to his family.
The 28-year-old Edgewater resident, serving as a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan, said he was doing the job he was meant to do. He had always wanted to be a SEAL and felt he was making a difference in Afghanistan, he wrote.
He wrote that if not for his family and wife, Emily, he would serve with his SEAL brothers forever, his dad, Tom, recalled this morning.
This week the Feeks family is mourning Patrick’s loss. He was among seven Americans and four Afghans killed last week when a U.S. military helicopter crashed during a firefight in southern Afghanistan, Pentagon officials said.
Tom said the family is devastated but doing as well as can be expected.
“He was a true warrior,” his father said.
A 2002 graduate of South River High School, Feeks often was serious, quiet and professional, his father said. At other times, he would tell corny jokes with terrible timing, Tom said.
“He could be irreverent at times,” Tom said.
Feeks enlisted in the Navy in 2006, and then completed Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training and advanced training. He had served with a West Coast-based SEAL unit since May 2008.
When it came to his military career, Feeks took his responsibilities seriously, his father said. He already served two tours of duty in Iraq and had been in Afghanistan since December.
“Every aspect of being a SEAL, he relished,” Tom said.
