Tom Sileo (39 page)

When Lieutenant Rob Sarver clutched his right fist and thumped his Navy SEAL pin into Brendan's coffin, which had at least fifty gold tridents on it already, he took a deep breath and said good-bye. Brendan's funeral was complete, and he would now rest in eternity beside his Naval Academy roommate. But before Sarver went home for the first time since deploying to Iraq seven months earlier, he needed to give Brendan's personal effects to Amy.

After giving several of Brendan's medals, along with the bullet casings from the twenty-one-gun salute, to Kevin and Maureen, Sarver gave additional medals and personal items, including Brendan's wallet, to Amy. Later, when Sarver returned to Coronado, he would open his friend's locker and find Travis's knife, which Tom had given Brendan after the Marine Corps Marathon. On this day, however, the items he presented were from Afghanistan.

Sure enough, Brendan's wedding band was still attached to his G-Shock watch, which the Navy SEAL was wearing when he died. Seeing the ring she had slid onto Brendan's finger on the happiest day of their lives was another agonizing moment for the young widow. But at least they had found the treasured memento.

After shedding many tears and exchanging stories about each item, Amy suddenly rifled through everything Sarver had brought her and said, “There's something missing.”

“I know, Amy,” Sarver said. “I'm sorry to tell you this, but Brendan's jacket had to be cut off after the crash.”

“No, not the jacket,” Amy said. “Rob, remember the other thing he always wore?”

“Oh, of course,” Sarver said. “You mean the bracelet.”

“Yes,” Amy said. “Do you know where it is?”

“I'm sorry,” Sarver said, bowing his head. “It was never found.”

Everything paused, including Amy's tears. Finally, after the most unbearable ordeal any military spouse could endure, something made sense.

Somewhere, most likely atop or below one of southeastern Afghanistan's tall, rugged mountains, a black bracelet with silver lettering lay covered in dirt and dust. Travis never got to serve there, but Brendan made sure that his fellow Spartan, hero, and leader also made his mark in the country where 9/11 was planned.

“No regrets,” Amy whispered. “No regrets.”

President George W. Bush hosts Janet and Tom Manion, along with Dave and Ryan Borek, in the Oval Office on October 29, 2007, six months to the day after Travis died while fighting to shield his teammates inside the Pizza Slice. Janet brought a bag of Marine Corps Marathon “Team Travis” gear and presented it to the nation's 43rd commander-in-chief.

US Marine Lieutenant General John Allen, who served as Commandant of the Naval Academy while Travis and Brendan were midshipmen, presents Travis's posthumous Silver Star and Bronze Star with Valor to Tom and Janet Manion, along with Ryan, Dave, and Maggie Borek, during a 2008 Doylestown, Pennsylvania ceremony. Allen would later be promoted to four-star general and go on to lead all US forces in Afghanistan.

Maggie touches a plaque bearing her uncle's name outside Manion Hall at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. Manion Hall, which houses US Marine officers training at The Basic School, was named in honor of Travis.

Brendan Looney and Rob Sarver mark their successful completion of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training in Coronado, California. The BUD/S roommates would go on to serve multiple combat deployments as US Navy SEALs.

US Navy Lieutenant (SEAL) Brendan Looney visits with Janet Manion on the night of his wedding in Annapolis, Maryland. During the reception, Brendan gave his gold Navy SEAL trident to the mother of his fallen Naval Academy roommate.

Amy and Brendan Looney are married on July 12, 2008. Forty-eight hours later, Brendan left for his second deployment to Iraq and his first as a Navy SEAL.
Courtesy of Clay Blackmore

Brendan, a member of SEAL Team Three, prepares for a combat mission in an undisclosed location.

The last page of the Valentine's Day card given by Brendan to his wife on February 14, 2010, less than a month before the Navy SEAL left for Afghanistan.

Brendan, carrying his .50 caliber sniper rifle, conducts combat operations in Afghanistan's Zabul province in 2010. In his pouch is a puppy that “Loon-Dog” and a fellow SEAL rescued from a local village.