Two Navy SEALs were KIA. Does America even notice?
By
Tessa Robinson
Jan 25, 2024 10:17 AM PST
A photo collage of two Navy SEALs killed in the Gulf of Aden January 11, 2024.
SUMMARY
In an incredible tale of heroism, Navy SEALs Christopher J. Chambers and Nathan Gage were killed in action January 11, 2024. But did America even notice?
News of a fallen service member always sends shockwaves through our military community. The sadness feels overwhelming, a burden we are forced to carry, somehow fraught with responsibility: it's the least we can do for the friends and families left behind to grapple with their new realities. A missing seat at the table, in perpetuity. The broken hopes and dreams; the heavy, unrelenting weight of grief of a world noticeably dimmer.
Earlier this week, we learned of the death of two Navy SEALs, killed in the Gulf of Aden during a ship-boarding op on January 11. The Navy searched for them for 11 days before releasing their names to the public, and changing their status from MIA to KIA. As my newsfeed was flooded with various angles of Jason Kelce at Sunday's playoff game, I couldn't help but wonder: When service members die in 2024, does America even notice?
It sounds like the start of a movie: high, stormy seas, speeding boats in the black of night; terrorists, weapons, global complexities only the most creative of screenwriters can conjure. While boarding a ship carrying Iranian weapons, one Navy SEAL slips, falling into the gap the waves created between the boat he was boarding and the SEALs' combatant craft. Without hesitation, a second SEAL dives in to try to save him. You can almost see it. Except this plot isn't fiction and these characters aren't portrayed by actors. And in this story, two of the heroes die. I'm sitting at an airport gate crying as I read more about their lives: Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers and Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage. More than anything, as I listen to people around me complain about flight delays, I want to scream. When did we stop grieving as a nation when our boys (and girls) don't come home? When did we become so oblivious and so desensitized to the human cost of war? And what can we do to combat that complacency?
https://www.wearethemighty.com/military-news/navy-seals-killed-gulf-of-aden/