ONE LAST TIME
Friends of a decorated Navy SEAL who died rescuing a Colorado Springs doctor in Afghanistan on Saturday remembered him as a strong student who had his heart set on joining the military.
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas D. Checque, 28, of Monroeville, Pa., died from a single gunshot wound to the head in the Saturday raid, the Pentagon confirmed Monday.
The SEALs rescued Dilip Joseph, a Colorado Springs doctor working for Springs-based charity Morning Star Development, four days after he was kidnapped outside Kabul by the Taliban.
“We could not be more grateful for that sailor’s heroism and for the bravery of all involved in the mission to bring Dilip home,” Joseph’s family said in a statement.
Checque was a member of Navy SEAL Team Six, which killed Osama bin Laden last year, though it’s unclear whether he served on that mission, according to the Associated Press.
Over this decade-long military career, Checque earned awards including the Bronze Star, Joint Service Commendation Medal and the National Defense Service Medal for service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As long as high school guidance counselor Victor Mayhugh knew Checque, he was interested in joining the Navy.
Mayhugh, now retired, met him in the late 1990s.
“He was very serious about what he wanted to do and where he wanted to go,” Mayhugh said of the then-sophomore at Norwin High School in North Huntingdon, Pa. “The service was his focus. He was the kind of kid who could have been a doctor or a lawyer. He was that driven, that focused.”
Former classmate and wrestling teammate Michael Choby said Checque was a talented athlete and physics student who sported a military-style hair cut and wanted to join the service.
“He was a quiet-but-strong presence,” said Choby, who now works as an assistant principal at Norwin High.
When they learned on Monday that Checque was the SEAL who died rescuing a civilian doctor, neither Mayhugh nor Choby were surprised.
“You don’t become a SEAL by accident,” Mayhugh said. “I believe he could have done whatever he wanted to do, but his focus was doing this.”
Employees at Morning Star Development on Monday released few additional details about Joseph and the kidnapping.
Joseph was still in Afghanistan Monday morning, said Lars Peterson, the organization’s executive director.
Peterson, who had not spoken to Joseph since the incident, described him as a “great guy doing great work.”
Joseph has worked for the nonprofit for three years, training doctors in Afghanistan, Peterson said.
Joseph and two other Morning Star workers were returning from a Dec. 5 visit to an Afghan clinic when armed men kidnapped them.
The other two hostages were released after negotiations, but the captors held onto Joseph, demanding a reported $100,000 ransom.
SEALs were ordered to Joseph’s rescue after an intelligence report revealed a threat to his life.
Joseph was not injured, though he underwent precautionary medical checks, according to the charity.
He is expected to return to Colorado Springs within the next few days, Morning Star said.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas D. Checque Photo by COURTESY PHOTO/Navy Special Warfare Command
