Academy grad killed in helicopter crash in Afghanistan

Luigi59

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Academy grad killed in helicopter crash in Afghanistan
By BILL WAGNER, Staff Writer
Annapolis Capital

Published 09/22/10

Former Naval Academy lacrosse standout Brendan J. Looney was among nine military service personnel killed in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan yesterday, The Capital has confirmed through multiple sources.

100922looney.jpg

Paul W. Gillespie — The Capital
Brendan Looney checks a Holy Cross player during a lacrosse game in 2004.



Looney was a Navy SEAL based out of Little Creek, Va., sources said. Looney, a Silver Spring resident who attended DeMatha Catholic High School, was a starting defenseman at Navy from 2002-2004.

Sources told The Capital that Naval Academy men’s lacrosse coach Richie Meade traveled to Dover Air Force Base today to meet the transport plane that was bringing the bodies of the deceased service personnel back to the United States.

Looney’s wife and parents were also believed to be in Dover for the return of Looney’s remains.

Andrew Dow, another former Navy lacrosse player, was also aboard the helicopter that crashed. Dow, a starting defenseman for the Midshipmen who graduated in 2007, survived the crash, but suffered serious injuries, sources said.
 
This is horrible news.....The Lonney brothers are what the Naval Academy and Navy Lacrosse are all about. My he RIP....

"And when our work is done,
Our course on earth is run,
May it be said, 'Well Done;
Be Thou At Peace."

West Point Alma Mater
 
Truly a ****ty way to go. Did his job for the entire tour and this happened practically on the way home as a part of the turnover to his relief.
Superintendent's statement on death of USNA graduate (22 SEP)
Brigade, Faculty and Staff,
It is my sad duty to report to you that Lieutenant Brendan Looney,USN, 29, Class of 2004, was killed in action in Afghanistan on Sept. 21, 2010 while assigned to a West Coast-based SEAL team.
A resident of Owings, Maryland, Brendan was a three-time letter winner in lacrosse, a history major, and a member of the 18th Company. He had two younger brothers who also graduated from USNA with the Classes of 2006 and 2007. Commissioned as an intelligence officer, he was later redesignated as a SEAL.
LT Looney will be sorely missed by his colleagues and his many other friends from the Naval Academy. His willingness to serve our Nation during a time of conflict serves to remind us all of the Commitment we make to our country as Leaders in the Naval Service.
Our heartfelt condolences go out to the Looney family, and our broader Naval Academy family; I would ask that you please keep them in your thoughts and prayers at this most difficult of times.
VADM Michael H. Miller
Superintendent
 
There will be a public visitation for LT Brendan Looney on October 3, from 2 – 5 pm, at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. The funeral service will be on October 4 at St. John the Baptist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland.

LT Brendan Looney will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, next to 1st Lt. Trasvis Manion, his roommate at the Naval Academy, who was killed in the line of duty in 2007.
 
LT Brendan Looney will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, next to 1st Lt. Trasvis Manion, his roommate at the Naval Academy, who was killed in the line of duty in 2007.

Reading this just gives me the chills. They were both so young. May they rest in peace.
 
Great Article

I don't know if anyone here reads The Unknown Soldiers blog, but they have a great tribute/article up here
 
The article is really poignant and sad. I only wish the remaining 99% of the country realized we are at war and that great young men and women are giving their lives in support of that effort.
 
Academy grad killed...

Let us all pray for the families, The Academy, the lacrosse team and the family themselves.

Rest in Peace, God Speed and God Bless,

RGK
 
I am a bit bothered by the responses to this thread, or rather the lack of recognition therein. I hope everyone is aware that this officer did not die alone. It is highly appropriate that we should pay homage to his life, but we cannot fail to recognize the totality of the event.

While we all mourn his passing, let's remember that eight other American servicemen died in that crash. This young man, while accomplished, is no more valuable or worthy because of his commissioning source. Many Americans perished in that accident. Let's remember that each was some mother's son, and not an afterthought to the mourning of the one who is best known to the SA community.

Every life lost is valuable. They may not all have been tremendous athletes or officers or SEALs, but they all saw their duty through to its mortal conclusion--in the dark, far from their homes, a world apart from those who love them.
 
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I agree and disagree, but mostly agree.

I agree that every life lost, every service member injuried should be remembered, honored and covered. Every life is valuable, and every dead service member paid the ultimate price.

That said, the comments on this thread are about the article posted. It was about a Naval Academy grad, who in the end will be/was laid to rest next to his Naval Academy classmate who died in 2007.

It is sad that the media will not cover every death in the detail that they covered this fallen member of the military, but it's a fact none-the-less.

I can think of thousands of our service members; Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan who were also not recognized.

Totally understand what you're saying, however I am hesitate to not comment on one sacrifice in order to avoid offending the thousands I have not talked about.

Just my humble opinion.
 
Nothing wrong with the article or commenting on it, for sure, but it's very easy to make the mistake of focusing on one when there are many who deserve our sympathy. Officers are frequently memorialized and mourned because they were "the best and brightest." Very few privates get such write-ups, though they are no less deserving.

We can do better than that here.
 
Nothing wrong with the article or commenting on it, for sure, but it's very easy to make the mistake of focusing on one when there are many who deserve our sympathy. Officers are frequently memorialized and mourned because they were "the best and brightest." Very few privates get such write-ups, though they are no less deserving.

We can do better than that here.

I think your post is pretty insulting to everyone who has read or commented on this thread. The military connections of the various people who post here run deep, across all branches and all ranks and I have no doubt that we all have our own sources of hearing about casualities, our own experiences of them and our own way of marking and honoring them.

The question is what the particular space of this forum, amongst all the many spaces on the www that in some way recognise or deal with military matters, and that (barring the odd foray into ROTC and SMCs) is a space to talk about everything to do with the Service Academy's and the story of the people who attend them or have a connection to people who attend them. From the 13 year old who is hearing about them for the first time through the twenty year grad sharing his or her story. And if that is the story we are telling then the death of graduates in the service of our country is surely part of that story.

I cant think of any other context in which a focus on SA grads would be a problem (we dragged out 20 pages on the former cadet who escorted Lady Gaga with only slight mention of all the others involved after all). To suggest that the original posters, by shining a particular spotlight on the death of a graduate of one of the institutions that give these forums their reason for existence have somehow devalued the deaths of others I think does them a great disservice.
 
*sigh*

Only on this forum could a reminder--itself devoid of rancor or epithet--that all the lives laid down by our servicemen and women are worthy of our humble tribute, as their mothers grieve their loss, be seen as an "insult."

If, in the discussion of a tragedy, a reminder that the discussion of one outstanding officer's passing is not a full or worthy accounting of the totality of the grievous loss is an "insult," then what do we as an ostensibly gracious and thankful community of citizens hold dear?

Knowing what I do of LT Looney, the professionals in the SEAL community, and USNA grads at large, I feel comfortable saying that if LT Looney was able to speak about the tragedy at hand, he would not be turning the attention on himself. He would speak of the fine men and women he was privileged to work alongside, the ones who made the ultimate sacrifice in relative obscurity. There are thousands of brave privates and petty officers and lance corporals and senior airmen who struggle mightily and face mortal danger. They largely do not receive write-ups in blogs or in the NY Times Op-Ed. They are largely obscure names from far-away towns who died in a far-away war. I will tell you that their lives are worthy of our blessings and tears, as most any officer who has donned the uniform would.

On a forum which is, by its nature, focused on Service Academies, it's neither odd nor inappropriate to discuss the inspiring life and sobering loss of LT Looney. But in keeping with the values of servant leadership that those same Academies instill in graduates, we are remiss if we don't view the loss in the way that others have suggested--a tragic punctuation mark in the long fight that has asked many a man or woman to sacrifice their youth, their happiness, and often their lives.

In keeping with my belief that every man on that bird deserves an honest accounting and thanks, most certainly including LT Brendan Looney, I'll end the discussion there. If you truly feel insulted, if your pride has been so damaged, feel free to PM me and we will discuss it further like adults. I will not discuss it further in a memorial thread.

Until then, I politely ask that we remember that for every LT Brendan Looney, or CPT Paul Pena, or CPT Dan Whitten, or LT Travis Manion, there is a soldier or sailor or airman or Marine who may not have had such great gifts--whose life did not meet with such great opportunity and good fortune as the lives of those of us who have enjoyed the honor of an Academy commission. But they raised their hand to serve their country. At the moment when they faced the great unknown they drove on with their duty, often to the judgment seat of their maker. They are worthy of our mention every chance we get.
 
Until then, I politely ask that we remember that for every LT Brendan Looney, or CPT Paul Pena, or CPT Dan Whitten, or LT Travis Manion, there is a soldier or sailor or airman or Marine who may not have had such great gifts--whose life did not meet with such great opportunity and good fortune as the lives of those of us who have enjoyed the honor of an Academy commission. But they raised their hand to serve their country. At the moment when they faced the great unknown they drove on with their duty, often to the judgment seat of their maker. They are worthy of our mention

Then I would ask for you, as you "remember" you not forget the Coast Guardsmen serving, or those who have been injured or killed (list is short, but certainly you don't want to forget an entire service as you comment of "remembering".) Right?
 
A well said post indeed Scout what a pity it is also so distinctly different to what you said in your first post. Or were you just hoping that your silky words and a good smattering of cliches would cover that up. Goodness your first line was about how bothered you were by the thread, no rancor?? No jingoism can hide the fact that you used a memorial thread to a deceased young man to pass an entirely unsubstantiated judgement on the how people do or do not memorialise each and every member of the armed services who dies in action. I hope and beleive that this would be challenged anywhere and not "only on this forum" *sigh*
 
I think that we as a community have done a good job of remembering your Coast Guard brethren. When the accident with the HH-60 occurred, a nice thread with the names of ALL aboard was posted (by Luigi, I believe). Very similar circumstances, no? I'm certain that if, by some tragic happenstance, some Coast Guardsmen were to perish tomorrow (God forbid) they would be remembered and honored as any other uniformed servant of the American people. You would be hard pressed to find fault on that subject.

Emsa, perhaps you didn't understand when I said inwould not discuss further in this thread. Please look to the upper left. There you will find the link to send me a private message, rather than using this thread as a vehicle to air your grievances. You should, as a matter of personal development, also look up "rancor" and "jingoism."
 
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqNkVnC0LIY&feature=related
To fallen soldiers let us sing,
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing,
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the Mansions of the Lord

No more weeping,
No more fight,
No friends bleeding through the night,
Just Divine embrace,
Eternal light,
In the Mansions of the Lord

Where no mothers cry
And no children weep,
We shall stand and guard
Though the angels sleep,
Oh, through the ages let us keep
The Mansions of the Lord

RIP
 
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