RIP, SFC Jonn Lilyea (Pinned as first post)

Well, we all end the Land Nav course of life someday, and for Jonn, that day was yesterday. He had a heart attack and passed away at the hospital. All men die, not all men truly live. Jonn did though, Lord knows Jonn did.

Wish I knew something to say to help with the pain, but after a sleepless night and some decidedly non-manly sobbing, I just don’t even know what to say. He was a friend, he was a mentor, and I’ll miss him. From meeting my wife to getting my job to the son I named after Jonn, I pretty much owe him in some part for everything I have, and it’s not a debt I take lightly. (Somewhat humorously, my last actual conversation with Jonn was about how his namesake, Ransom Jonn Seavey is a fat happy kid who just plays….until Moana comes on and then dude sits there all starry eyed. I postulated that giving him the name must have made him love what Jonn always called lovingly the “Little Brown Women.”)

As twisted as it is, I’ll never forget the exact moment that Jonn and I bonded. I was blogging at The Sniper, and he had this enterprise going, but the old schoolers will remember that if we got 10 comments back then than the post was on fire. But “Army Sergeant” invited the two of us to Winter Soldier, and although I *internet knew* Jonn, I didn’t *really* know him. We got to the hearings and the IVAW people segregated us from everyone else and gave us full time minders that literally read our posts as they went up. We were both almost at the bailing point when one guy got up and told some asinine story about how they blew up an old lady with a Mk 19, even though she was bringing them groceries. The story was so preposterous on the face of it that Jonn and I started guffawing. Here we were in a room full of dirty old 60’s hippies who were crying and Jonn and I were laughing so hard we started crying too.

I’m not going to go through his whole bio, you guys know it probably as well or better than I do. He was a hero in every sense of the word, but the most amazing thing was that dude was harder than iron, but he had a soft spot, which was forgiving but just as no-nonsense. He didn’t care what anyone did in the military but was grateful for that service, and never valued his own service higher than anyone else’s. The way he became the IVAW whisperer and helped some of those guys out was the epitome of what the brotherhood of veterans was all about. Sure, he’d give them no end of shit, but if they needed help Jonn would drop whatever he was doing and see that they got that help.

Nothing has been locked down as far as a service. We know he wanted to be buried in his uniform in Arlington, a place I’ve been to many times with him. As things become clearer I’ll let you guys know what’s up. Ditto the blog, we’ll talk about that after we’re done grieving.

If you are a person of faith, I’d ask you to pray for Jonn’s family during this time of profound mourning. If you are a warrior, drink to our friend as he makes his way to Valhalla. They’ll probably make him the sergeant at arms there so he can toss out the phonies that show up uninvited with ludicrous stories of Top Secret derring-do.

As I sat there last night remembering all the times I’d spent with Jonn I thought of Invictus, which fits Jonn to a T.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

RIP buddy. We love you.

Category: Arlington National Cemetary, We Remember