Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Daniel R. Healy

Remember Our Heroes

Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Daniel R. Healy, 36, of Exeter, New Hampshire.

Chief Petty Officer Healy died while conducting combat operations when the MH-47 helicopter that he was aboard crashed in the vicinity of Asadabad, Afghanistan in Kumar Province. He was assigned to SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

"He's leaving a wonderful legacy to his family and to his children," said Healy's mother, Natalie Healy of Exeter, N.H.

Healy and his wife, Norminda, had no children, his mother said, but her son had four children from two previous marriages: A son, Jake, 14, and daughter Chelsea, 13, from his first marriage, both live in San Diego, she said. Two daughters, Jasmine, 7, and Sasha, 5, from his second marriage, live in Honolulu.

His ex-wife, Robyn Healy, lives in Honolulu with the couple's two daughters, Sasha, 5, and Jasmine, 7. Robyn Healy said yesterday both her daughters are doing OK under the circumstances. Sasha is too young to know what happened, but her older sister took the news hard.

"I told Jasmine this morning," said Robyn Healy, who was married to Dan Healy for almost five years. "She understands. She's very sad."

Healy was a devoted father who stayed in touch with his children no matter where he was, she said.

"Jasmine always knew where he was. She would turn on the 6 o'clock news at night to see if she could see her daddy on TV."

Jake has his father's competitive spirit and love of sports. His younger sister has their father's goofy side and propensity to lose things.

They are proud, as any children would be, but mostly because he was serving his country when he died. "I brag about him every day," Healy's son, Jake, said yesterday from his mom's Bonita home. "I always make sure I include his rank when I talk about him."

Despite the distance, they had their traditions. Healy loved making tamales at Christmas with his children and playing chess with Jake. He always called or wrote, no matter where he was.

"He made every effort to be a part of their lives," Vianne Centeno said. "He gave them so much."

When he could, Healy would take his children for pineapple-topped pizza and a game of pool at their favorite pizzeria. He also played basketball and racquetball with them. He most recently visited this past spring, just before he left for Afghanistan.

His last call to them was June 17, Centeno said.

Healy asked Chelsea to send him homemade chocolate chip cookies for his birthday. Then, while talking to Centeno, he got upset upon learning that Chelsea lost her cell phone – again. Centeno reminded him that he had more important things to worry about.

"It was funny that we could have that conversation while he was at war," Centeno said. "He was so casual."

Jake and Chelsea said their father didn't have many rules, but taught them important lessons. "He always wanted us to be good at whatever we did," Chelsea said. "If not, he wanted us to try."

The father and son were becoming more like friends in the last few years, Jake said. They would talk several times a week, and Healy would confide in his son about his work.

Jake said that despite the dangers his father faced in Afghanistan, he figured he would return. He and his sister planned to fly to Hawaii to greet him in November.

"I didn't doubt it at all," Jake said. "I wasn't worried."

Healy had two sisters, Jennifer, 36, of San Diego, and Shannon, 22, of Exeter. He had a half- brother, Sean, 29, of Rutland, Vt., and a half-sister, Carrie, 24, of San Marcos, Texas, from the marriage of Henry "Tom" Healy and his wife, Laurie Healy, who live in Manchester, N.H.

Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Daniel R. Healy was killed in action on 06/28/05.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

thats my dad =/. i miss him

bkh said...

Hi, this is Jasmine Healy. And I am now 9 years old, and I'm doing okay. I still miss my daddy very much and think of him all the time. My sister Sasha is now 7 years old, just last week was her birthday. We all miss our daddy.
Bye.

Anonymous said...

Hi this is jazzy again! I miss dad very much. I wish he were alive during my school concerts to encouroge me.

Jasmine said...

I miss my daddy.

Jasmine said...

I miss my daddy.

Jasmine said...

Hi! Its me Jasmine Healy! I am with my friend, Esther. Esther Kim is my best friend, I mean BEST Friend ever! She always been encouraging me threwout the years my dad died. If you see her, thank her! I'm in 5th grade and I'm on Winter break! ( Ariel, if you are reading this, don't feel bad about BEST friend thing K! BYE BYE!!!

Jasmine said...

Hi, My name is Esther Kim and my BFF is Jazzy Healy. I want to say that her dad is a true american and you should state more comments. This girl needs encouragement and someone to look up to because shse lost a big part of her life and i think that its awesome thing that Jasmines Dad sacrificed his life for us. Please if you see a flyer saying Fallen Heroes go on. He didnt die for fame or money he died because he cared. Please Pray for the Healys!
A men!

jeliaus said...

I was very sad to hear about Dan. Dan and I were class mates at Exeter HS, and I was on the football team with him. Not only that, I used to work out with him in my house all the time. Dan got me to play guitar on the clam at Hampton Beach one year, and we used to have some adventures too. I joined the USMC in 1986 after HS and didn't find out dan had joined the Navy until I got out of the Marine Corps. Dan, I'll miss you buddy, rest easy brother.
John Elia jeliaus@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

hello jazzy. do you remember me? my name is erika arashiro i used to play with you in YMCA in summer of 2005. we used to go over to each others house. im the same age as you. you were my best friend. today, thursday august 14 i looked in the newspaper and looked in the back of the hawaii b6 and there was something from advertising the honolulu advertiser. i looked closer and saw something on a helicopter crash. i remembered you because i remembered your father. just saying hi!

erica ashiro said...

hello, this is erica ashiro. i misspelled my name above.

Jasmine Healy :) said...

yupz i still miss him :*(

Little Michael Murphy's Mommy said...

Kids, be strong. My family is thankful for everything your father did, as well as what you have had to endure. I met your grandma this weekend, I wish I had more time to have spent with her, but I have 5 kids of my own, so I had to tend to them. I plan to run in a memorial race this September. It will be in New Hampshire and will celebrate the lives and sacrifices of all of New Hampshire's bravest. You father will be my motivation during my training for the run. Hugs from Connecticut. We are a long way away, but sometimes hugs can make it that far.

Anonymous said...

Jasmine,
Although your dad was a couple of years older that me, we knew each other for many years and were also Chiefs together. I flew him around quite a bit with others in his unit and I was there at the memorial service at Punchbowl. My oldest son is only a couple of years older than you and was there with me in his Naval Sea Cadet uniform. Your dad had helped me train Battleship Missouri sea cadets on a few occasions too. Although it seems so long ago, and we no longer live in the islands, rarely is it that I do not think of your dad and of you kids and how you are making out. I am retired now and reflect on things that happened in my career that really affected me. I finished up in San Diego, would have liked to visit with Jake and Chelsea, but they were too young to have remembered me from the 90's. Nothing will replace such a strong figure in your life, or that of your siblings but know that you are thought of and we care about what happens to you.