Hometown: Hood River, OR
Branch: U.S. Navy
Unit: SEAL Team Three, Charlie Platoon, Task Unit Bruiser
Military Honors: Silver Star, Bronze Star with Valor, Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: August 2, 2006 - KIA in Ramadi, Anbar Province, Iraq
Age: 28
Conflict: Iraq War, 2003-2011

Marc Lee’s dream was to become a professional soccer player. His coach recalled that when Lee first started playing, he was “a horrible soccer player.” That would change as Lee worked hard to not only improve—but to excel. His determination as an athlete would foreshadow his resolve in becoming one of the “best of the best” elite Navy SEAL Special Operations forces.

Marc Alan Lee was born on March 20, 1978, in Portland, Oregon. A year later, he moved to Colorado with his brother Kris, his sister, Cheryl, and their mother Debbie Lee. When Marc was 8 years old, the family moved to Hood River, Oregon—a town less than an hour’s drive east of Portland, on the Columbia River.

Lee was homeschooled until his junior year in high school and graduated from Baptist Christian School in 1996. He worked in construction while in high school and for a year following graduation. His perseverance on the soccer field made it realistic to pursue his dream of playing professionally, so he moved to Colorado and had a tryout scheduled with the Colorado Rapids.

That dream came to a disappointing end when he blew out his knee in an indoor soccer match the night before his tryout. Recovering from surgery in January of 1998, Marc read up on the Navy SEALS and began looking into what was required.

According to the U.S. Navy’s description of its elite Special Warfare combat forces:

It takes a special kind of person to qualify for this role, and if you do, you’d better be ready to prove it with your smarts, strength and willingness to march head-on into impossible situations. Because your team is the one they’re going to call in for last-ditch reconnaissance missions and operations that “never happened.”

Lee continued studying up on the SEALs while attending The Master’s College in Santa Clarita, California. He first majored in Bible & Theology, later switching his major to Law.

He joined the U.S. Navy in May of 2001, and signed up to try out for the SEALs. Lee was sent to Naval Station Great Lakes north of Chicago for Basic Training, graduating in July of that year. He completed his Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) training at Aviation Ordinance School in October of 2001, and left for Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training at the Naval Special Warfare Training Center in Coronado, California.

Once again persisting through obstacles—including a diagnosis of pneumonia and pulmonary edema that forced Lee to delay and redo the BUD/S notorious “Hell Week”—he finally realized his dream of becoming a Navy SEAL when he graduated with BUD/S Class 251.

Lee deployed with SEAL Team 3 to Ramadi, Iraq in April of 2006. On July 18 of that year, PO2 Lee was in a battle against insurgents when he deliberately exposed himself to enemy fire to provide cover for his platoon mates. For his courageous actions, Lee was awarded a Bronze Star Medal with a “V” for Valor.

Just two weeks later, Lee and his fellow SEALs were on a rooftop in Ramadi when one of his teammates was seriously wounded by shrapnel. Lee again deliberately drew enemy fire to himself—once to allow a medic to access his wounded comrade and a second time to allow his team to evacuate.

For his actions on that day, PO2 Lee was awarded the Silver Star. His citation reads:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Aviation Ordnanceman Second Class (SEAL), Marc Alan Lee, United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy as Assaulter and Automatic Weapons Gunner in Sea, Air, Land Team THREE (SEAL-3), Naval Special Warfare Task Group Arabian Peninsula in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM on 2 August 2006. Petty Officer Lee conducted clearance operations in South-Central Ramadi as a member of a Naval Special Warfare Combat Advisory element for the Iraqi Army. During the operation, one element member was wounded by enemy fire. The element completed the casualty evacuation, regrouped and returned onto the battlefield to continue the fight. Petty Officer Lee and his SEAL element maneuvered to assault an identified enemy position. He, his teammates, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Abrams tanks engaged enemy positions with suppressive fire. During the assault, his team came under heavy enemy fire from an adjacent building to the north. To protect the lives of his teammates, he fearlessly exposed himself to direct enemy fire by engaging the enemy with his machine gun and was mortally wounded in the engagement. His brave actions in the line of fire saved the lives of many of his teammates. Petty Officer Lee’s courageous leadership, operational skill, and selfless dedication to duty, reflected great credit upon him and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Marc Lee was the first Navy SEAL killed in Iraq. In his last letter home, five years before the Iraq War would officially end, Lee predicted “It will take more years than most expect, but we will get Iraq to stand on its own feet.” PO2 Lee ended that letter with a plea to those he loved:

What I do over here is only a small part of what keeps our country great. I think the truth to our greatness is each other. Purity, morals and kindness, passed down to each generation through example. So to all my family and friends, do me a favor and pass on the kindness, the love, the precious gift of human life to each other so that when your children come into contact with a great conflict that we are now faced with here in Iraq, that they are people of humanity, of pure motives, of compassion.

At Lee’s memorial service his Pastor, Chuck Talcott remarked, “He stood up for other people and he died for other people. He died for a teammate. He died for us.”

Sources
Details and card photo provided by Ms. Debbie Lee, PO2 Lee’s Gold Star Mother.
Family information provided by Folds of Honor Foundation
America’s Mighty Warriors: About Marc
Military Times—Honor the Fallen: Navy Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class (SEAL) Marc A. Lee
Travis Manion Foundation: Marc Lee
Los Angeles Times, August 7, 2006: Firefight Against Iraqi Insurgents Claims the War’s First Navy SEAL
NPR: Navy SEAL Dies in Iraqi Firefight
Military Times, The Hall of Valor Project: Marc Alan Lee
Burial Site: Find a Grave