Remembering the Navy SEAL who gave everything for his country
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Charles Keating IV, the Navy SEAL killed on Tuesday in Iraq, was rushing to help U.S. Allies under attack by ISIS.
By order of the governor, flags in Arizona flew at half staff on Wednesday in memory of Keating.
His teammates in the Navy SEALS, where his brother also serves, called him C-4, since he was the fourth to bear what in Arizona is a household name.
His grandfather, Charles Keating Jr., a champion swimmer during his college years, was a financier sent to prison in a bank scandal that implicated several U.S. senators. His father, Charles Keating III, was a three time All-American swimmer at Indiana University.
C-4 was a star distance runner in high school, where track coach Rob Reniewicki remembers him as the kid with the million dollar smile.
"He had a big heart, big smile. Happy go lucky kid," he said. "He was the kind of kid that walked into a room and the room lit up."
After high school, he ran for Indiana, but left college to join the SEALS, beginning with the notoriously tough basic training. And going on to serve two combat tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. The ribbons on his chest include a bronze star with valor.
He quietly married before he left on what turned out to be his final mission, back to Iraq, this time to fight ISIS.
"He fittingly went down swinging alongside his brothers in a withering firefight right where he wanted to be," his commander said.
His death got a lot of attention because of his name, but when you find out who C-4 was and how he lived his 31 years, you owe him not just attention but, as the governor of Arizona said, "Our thoughts, prayers and eternal gratitude."