Marc Alan Lee (March 20, 1978 – August 2, 2006) was a United States Navy SEAL. He was the first SEAL to lose his life in

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

when he was killed in a fierce firefight while on patrol against

insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...

s in

Ramadi Ramadi ( ''Ar-Ramādī''; also formerly rendered as ''Rumadiyah'' or ''Rumadiya'') is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad and west of Fallujah. It is the capital and largest city of Al Anbar Governorate which shares borders with Syri ...

. Lee was posthumously awarded the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

, the

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

with

Valor Valor, valour, or valorous may mean: * Courage, a similar meaning * Virtue ethics, roughly "courage in defense of a noble cause" Entertainment * Valor Kand, a member of the band Christian Death * ''Valor'' (TV series), an American drama series ...

and the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

. On March 20, 2013, the Marc A. Lee Training Center building was dedicated at the

Naval Amphibious Base Coronado Naval Amphibious Base Coronado (NAB Coronado) is a US naval installation in San Diego, California. The base, situated on Silver Strand between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, is a major United States Navy shore command, supporting over 30 t ...

Early life

Lee was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, and moved to

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

when he was one year old with his mother Debbie and brother and sister. When he was seven, he and his family moved back to

Hood River, Oregon Hood River is a city in and the county seat of Hood River County, Oregon, United States. It is a port on the Columbia River, and is named for the nearby Hood River. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 8,313. It is the only city in O ...

. Lee was home-schooled until his Junior year and graduated from Baptist Christian School, now Horizon Christian School, in 1996. In 1997, he moved to Colorado once again to pursue his dream of a career in professional soccer. He was scheduled for tryouts with the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

. In an indoor soccer match the night before tryouts, he blew out his knee requiring surgery on his ACL and

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...

. He attended

The Master's College The Master's University is a private non-denominational Christian university in Santa Clarita, California. History The college was founded in 1927. It was originally named Los Angeles Baptist College and Seminary. In 1961, it moved to Ne ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

with a major in Bible and Theology and played on their soccer team. In his second year, he changed his major to Law. In May 2001, Lee went into the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

with a contract to try out for the SEALs.

Military career

Lee completed United States Navy basic training at RTC Great Lakes, Illinois in July 2001, followed by Aviation Ordnanceman School at NATTC Pensacola,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in October 2001. Lee then reported to Basic Underwater Demolition/Sea, Air, Land (BUD/S) training at

Coronado, California Coronado (Spanish language, Spanish for "Crowned") is a resort town, resort city in San Diego County, California, United States, across San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. It was founded in the 1880s and incorporated in 1890. Its population ...

, but dropped from the program and was reassigned to the aircraft carrier from 2002 to March 2004. Lee attempted BUD/S again in 2004 and successfully graduated from class 251. After completing SEAL Qualification training in May 2005, Lee was assigned to SEAL Team THREE. Lee deployed to Iraq with Charlie Platoon, Task Unit Bruiser in May 2006 until he was killed in action in Ramadi on August 2, 2006. Lee was the first Navy SEAL killed in combat during

. A fellow SEAL Team 3 member, Ryan "Biggles" Job, was critically injured by a sniper and Lee single-handedly provided cover fire while other team members prepared Job for medical evacuation. The team re-engaged the enemy force after the evacuation of Job. Lee was mortally wounded when he exposed himself a third time to draw fire from enemy forces away from his teammates. For his action on the battlefield, Lee was posthumously awarded the

, the

with

and the

. His Silver Star citation reads:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Aviation Ordnanceman Second Class Marc Alan Lee, United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy as Assaulter and Automatic Weapons Gunner in Sea, Air, Land Team THREE (SEAL-3), Naval Special Warfare Task Group Arabian Peninsula in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM on 2 August 2006. Petty Officer Lee conducted clearance operations in South-Central Ramadi as a member of a Naval Special Warfare Combat Advisory element for the Iraqi Army. During the operation, one element member was wounded by enemy fire. The element completed the casualty evacuation, regrouped and returned onto the battlefield to continue the fight. Petty Officer Lee and his SEAL element maneuvered to assault an identified enemy position. He, his teammates, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Abrams tanks engaged enemy positions with suppressive fire. During the assault, his team came under heavy enemy fire from an adjacent building to the north. To protect the lives of his teammates, he fearlessly exposed himself to direct enemy fire by engaging the enemy with his machine gun and was mortally wounded in the engagement. His brave actions in the line of fire saved the lives of many of his teammates. Petty Officer Lee's courageous leadership, operational skill, and selfless dedication to duty, reflected great credit upon him and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. Action Date: August 2, 2006

Job survived his wounds but was left permanently blind. In September 2009, Job died from a preventable hospital error while his wife was pregnant with their first child, Leah.

Awards and decorations

Popular culture

Lee was portrayed by actor

Luke Grimes Luke Timothy Grimes (born January 21, 1984) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his role as Navy SEAL Marc Alan Lee in the film ''American Sniper''. He played Christian Grey's little brother, Elliot, in the film ''Fifty Shades o ...

in the 2014 film ''

American Sniper ''American Sniper'' is a 2014 American Biographical film, biographical War film, war drama film directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood and written and executive-produced by Jason Hall (screenwriter), Jason Hall, based on the memoir American ...

''. Lee's name was also shown on a badge hanging on the wall for tribute in the movie ''

Lone Survivor ''Lone Survivor'' is a 2013 American action drama film based on the 2007 nonfiction book by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson. Set during the war in Afghanistan, it dramatizes the unsuccessful United States Navy SEALs counter-insurgent ...

''. The fourth episode of the History Channel's ''The Warfighters'' is about Lee, portrayed by actor Trevor Fox, and his Platoon during the Battle of Ramadi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Marc Alan 1978 births 2006 deaths Military personnel from Portland, Oregon Recipients of the Silver Star Place of death missing American military personnel killed in the Iraq War United States Navy SEALs personnel Military personnel from Colorado People from Hood River, Oregon The Master's University alumni United States Navy personnel of the Iraq War United States Navy sailors