Among Heroes: A U.S. Navy SEAL's True Story of Friendship, Heroism, and the Ultimate Sacrifice (24 page)

Matt and his beautiful wife, Cindy, at their wedding. If you look close, you can see their eyes are both still teared up. That was one seriously happy day.

Courtesy of Dote Photography, Woodland, CA

This is one of my favorite photos of Matt; even in a cap and dark glasses, his quiet personality shines.

Courtesy of Cindy Oji

Matt was always the total professional. Here he is in the field, in Afghanistan 2005, not long before Operation Red Wings, completely at ease and ready for anything.

Courtesy of Cindy Oji

As John Zinn’s dad says, “John was hell on the M60,” a machine gun he used with great skill.

Courtesy of Jacqueline K. Zinn

John was an outstanding athlete and a competitive water polo player, so at home in the water his instructors nicknamed him Neptune. He was also the ultimate cool lifeguard in high school.

Courtesy of Jacqueline K. Zinn

John, his wife, Jackie, and their two girls took time off at Lake Tahoe for Christmas in 2009, never imagining it would be their last Christmas together.

Courtesy of Jacqueline K. Zinn

As passionate an entrepreneur as he was, John was never a workaholic. His family always came first, and taking time to chill with his two girls was a top priority.

Courtesy of Jacqueline K. Zinn

Minutes after this photo was snapped, John demonstrated how safe his Indigen Armor vehicles were by riding in this armored car as it was fired on by heavy-caliber weapons, and coming out without a scratch.

Courtesy of Jacqueline K. Zinn

Here’s Chris Campbell, at about age twenty, with his long locks and brand-new wheels. The sandals, man, the sandals.

Courtesy of Cindy Campbell

“What’s special about Chris,” said his friend and fellow North Carolinian Randy Kelley, “is not that he’s larger than life. It’s kind of like he
is
life.”

Courtesy of Cindy Campbell

Chris loved the outdoors; to him the ocean was a second home. Here he is on the boardwalk: “Welcome to my world.”

Courtesy of Cindy Campbell

Chris had an amazing ability to be at home wherever he was. No matter where
here
was at the moment, he never seemed to want to be anywhere else.

Courtesy of Cindy Campbell