Stay Safe: Chapter Seventeen

Stay Safe Book

Aug 20

Written By ereeves

What follows is a chapter from "Stay Safe: Life After Loss," a book that I wrote following the death of my brother, Robert James Reeves. Rob, only 14-months younger than me and 32 years old at the time of his death, was a Navy SEAL on the prestigious SEAL Team 6. On August 6, 2011, while on a mission in Afghanistan, he and too many of his teammates and other servicemen, lost their lives when their helicopter was shot down by enemy fire. It was the single largest loss of American life in the Afghan war. And because of the high profile nature of this event–being on the cusp of the Bin Laden mission and the number of those lost–my dad and I were part of many, many memorials and events, and the recipients of much outreach, and the point of contact for all those wanting to do something in Rob’s memory. This book chronicles the first month after his death. I am releasing a chapter a day starting August 5th as we mark the fourth anniversary of life without him.

Adam Brown

In March 2010, Dad and I attended Adam Brown's funeral in Hot Springs, Arkansas, at the bequest of Rob. Adam had been killed on deployment, on a mission, with Rob. He wrote a letter to us explaining what a great man Adam was and asked that we be there at his funeral.“We hit a target in AFG a few nights ago and got into one of the most  intense fire fights that I've been in during my time in the teams. The hero for that night was Adam. I've known him since 1999 while we were  going through BUD/S together. He was a good friend and probably the most religious, moral man I knew in the teams. Huge loss for us and I just wanted you guys to take a minute and give a toast to him. He left behind his wife and two kids.”Dad and I attended that service and were absolutely overwhelmed by the outpouring of the community and all the men from the Navy that were there. Adam’s funeral had a profound and memorable effect on both Dad and me. It was overwhelming special and a powerful tribute to his life. We hoped that Rob’s service would do the same for those that were a part of it this special day.At Adam’s service, we were shocked when Rob was quoted in the eulogy given by John Faas, who was also on the helicopter with Rob that fateful August. From John’s eulogy to Adam in March 2010: “It hurts down to the core that you are gone, but in the words of your teammate Rob Reeves: ‘We know that you are still with us. You will be with us on our next op, and on our next deployment, and forever.’” Rob was still with us at the time, though on deployment, and it was hard hear him associated with death and dealing with it while still in a danger zone.The entire town of Hot Springs participated in the mourning and the celebration of Adam's life.  When we drove from the church to the country cemetery outside of town where Adam asked to be buried, the street was lined with people who had stopped whatever they were doing and stood there, hand upon heart or raised in solemn salute, as the motorcade passed.  There were so many SEALs in uniform that had flown in for the service. And before they put him in the ground the men all filed past, one by one, and pounded their Tridents into the casket. Each hit on the casket was like a punch to the stomach, and I had never even met Adam.I remember that Dad and I had a discussion about whether to go to the reception afterwards and I didn't want to go. We didn't know anyone and we didn't know Adam and I thought it would just be awkward. I could tell that Dad wanted to go, but he relented to my request to not go. After now going through what we have with Rob, I wish that we had gone in and had talked to Adam's parents and explained why we were there. I think they would have appreciated it and remembered. But at the time, I didn't fully understand the power of the SEAL family. Adam’s family attended Rob’s service and spoke to Dad at the reception; he was understandably touched by that gesture.

Read other chapters of this book.

ereeves