Navy Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Parachutist) Christopher G. Campbell

Remember Our Heroes

Navy Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Parachutist) Christopher G. Campbell, 36, of Jacksonville, N.C.

Navy Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Parachutist) Campbell was assigned to an East Coast-based SEAL team; died Aug. 6, 2011 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter in which he was riding was shot down.

Fallen SEAL remembered for determination, fearlessness
Staff and wire reports

Chris Campbell may have been physically slight, but family and friends said the Navy SEAL was always ready to take on a challenge.

His mother, Diane Campbell, told The Daily News of Jacksonville, N.C., she remembered him and his older brother learning to ride a unicycle brought back from Okinawa as one example of her son’s determination.

“If Chris thought he could, he would try,” Diane Campbell said.

Chris’ father, Larry, was a career Marine. The retired Master Gunnery Sergeant said that he “never force the idea of military service on his son, who approached him after graduating from White Oak High School with his plan to join the Navy and become a SEAL.

Chris met his wife, Angelina, while the two were surfing on the same beach. After he spotted her, he followed her into the waves to strike up a conversation. They were married in November 2008.

Former high school football coach, Jack Baile, remembered Campbell showed up to try out for the team as junior about 5 foot 7 and 140 pounds. “When kids come out for football for the first time, the first thing you’re worried about is, are they going to like to be hit, or want to be hit, or like to hit. That was not a problem with Chris. He had no fear with that,” said Baile.

Upon hearing that Chris had joined the SEALS, he said, “I thought that kind of fits Chris. He didn’t have a lot of fear of things and I think he always wanted to try to prove to somebody that he could do things. He was an adventurous-type guy.”

Family friend, Steven Carter, said he knew Campbell as a child. “He was a good kid,” he said. “When I found out that he had joined the Navy, I was surprised, and when I found out he was a SEAL I was quite surprised.

Former county commissioner, Martin Aragona, Jr., said he and Campbell had a number of friends in common and both played on the school football team. “I was just sad to hear through some of our mutual friends that he had passed away,” Aragona said. “The whole White Oak community and Onslow County as well as the nation were saddened to hear what happened in Afghanistan.”

In an email to his daughter, Samantha, sent days before the crash, he wrote that he was looking forward to coming home in November and celebrating her 15th birthday in January.

Campbell, 36, of Jacksonville, died in the Aug. 6 crash.

Campbell’s work frequently sent him on missions out of the country, and his family asked few questions when he showed up with a full beard or arrived for a visit that could only last three hours. In an email to his daughter Samantha sent days before the crash, he wrote that he was looking forward to coming home in November and celebrating her 15th birthday in January.

Chris Campbell told his family that if he was killed in the line of duty, he wanted the local newspaper to write about his life and death, with a request for donations in his memory to the Wounded Warrior Project. The project helps wounded service members recover from their war injuries.

Campbell enlisted in November 1996, according to the Navy. He graduated from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL in Coronado, Calif., in February 1998.

Campbell served with a West Coast-based SEAL team until May 2004, when he reported to the Naval Special Warfare Advanced Training Detachment at Key West, Fla. He joined the East Coast-based SEAL team in February 2006.

His decorations include the Bronze Star with ‘V’ device for valor; Joint Service Achievement Commendation with ‘V’ device for valor; Army Commendation Medal; Joint Service Achievement; Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal; Combat Action Ribbon; Presidential Unit Citation; Navy Unit Commendation; three Good Conduct Medals; National Defense and Global War on Terrorism Service/Expeditionary Medals, Afghanistan Campaign Medal; four Sea Service Deployment Ribbons; the Rifle Marksmanship Medal and Pistol Marksmanship Medal.

Navy Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Parachutist) Christopher G. Campbell was killed in action on 8/6/11.