Families of two Broward servicemen killed in Afghanistan last week spent their weekend in mourning

By Kevin Deutsch
©2005 Miami Herald
July 4, 2005

James Erik Suh always wanted to be a Navy SEAL.

Growing up in Deerfield Beach, he sharpened his mind and bolstered his body, preparing for the rigorous mental and physical training he would face in the elite military squad. Suh's skills eventually got him into the SEALS. But on a dangerous mission in Afghanistan last week, they were not enough to save him.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Suh, 28, and Army Sgt. Kip Jacoby, 21, of Pompano Beach, were among 16 U.S. troops killed during an air mission to assist a special operations team missing in Afghanistan's mountains last week. The reinforcement troops were in a MH-47, a version of the twin-rotor Chinook helicopter, which was shot down by an enemy rocket-propelled grenade June 28.

The families of Suh and Jacoby mourned their loss over the weekend.

''James was so passionate about his job,'' said Suh's sister, Claudia Suh, 29, of Benicia, Calif. ``He would constantly say he was with an incredible group of guys over there, and he fully, 100 percent believed in what he was doing.''

Suh, who was Korean American and also went by the name Sung Gap Suh, had wanted to be a Navy SEAL since his days at Deerfield Beach High School. There, he excelled in academics, and blossomed into a star athlete on the tennis and swim teams, his sister said.

Suh knew he had mental and physical toughness, but wanted to test his limits. The SEALS, he thought, was the perfect outfit. After graduating high school in 1995, Suh attended the University of Florida, where he received a bachelor's degree in statistics in 1999. Then he was off to the Navy.

Based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Suh relished his role as a SEAL, his family said. In calls and e-mail messages to family, he talked about the ''cool stuff he got to do,'' his sister said.

''He was always a protector of his family and friends and became equally committed to defending and protecting our country,'' said Claudia Suh. ``He was a rare combination of strength, intelligence, humor and compassion.''

Suh cracked up his Navy colleagues and family with his dry sense of humor, but he also was a serious student. He collected books of famous quotes, because he liked to sum up life in eloquent ways, his sister said.

Suh's father, Solomon Suh, moved from Deerfield Beach to Hawaii two years ago to be closer to his son, whom he'd raised as a single parent in Deerfield Beach.

Linda Cleveland, 56, of Boca Raton, whose son was a friend of Suh's, said Suh grew close to her family.

'James called me `Mom,' '' said Cleveland, whose son, Erik, was killed at age 15. ``James never left our family. There was never a Mother's Day that went unnoticed by him.''

When Suh decided to Americanize his name, he took the middle name Erik, in honor of Cleveland's son.

Suh, born in Chicago, kept in close contact with his family, including 11 cousins. His sister spoke to him by phone a week before he died.

''We were in the middle of talking, and then he got cut off,'' Claudia Suh said. ``That was the last time we spoke.''

Jacoby, also killed in the crash, enlisted in the Army after his high school graduation in 2002. Jacoby was a helicopter repairman before becoming a flight engineer in 2004. He was a member of the Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the Night Stalkers. In joining the military, Jacoby followed in his family's footsteps. His late grandfather, Ernest H. Jacoby, served as a major in World War II, serving five years from North Africa to Sicily, according to The Grand Rapids Press in Michigan.

Two great-uncles served in the Army Air Corps, braving anti-aircraft fire in B-17s and B-24s over Germany -- George Schempp as a bombardier and John Schempp as a pilot, the paper reported. A relative on his grandmother's side -- Matthew Degarmo -- fought in the American Revolution, Jacoby's uncle, Ernest Jacoby, told the paper.

''I think he thought he had a duty,'' said Ernest Jacoby of Hastings, Mich. ``I think he believed in the mission we were fighting over there.''

Jacoby's family released a statement saying, ``Kip believed his choice of service for our country was meaningful and right. Even in the face of danger, he showed courage and bravery.''

On Sunday, U.S. forces rescued a member of the Special Operations team that the troops who died were on their way to help, The Washington Post reported. The fate of other team members, who disappeared June 28, was unknown Sunday.

Family Remembers Navy SEAL from Florida Killed in Afghanistan

©2005 Associated Press
July 4, 2005

Before being deployed to Afghanistan this year, James Suh bought and hid gifts for his father to open while he was away.

"When we were growing up we were poor," he wrote in a letter that Solomon Suh opened on Father's Day. "But we never felt poor because you took us to the beach every day, taught us how to play tennis and took us to the library."

Petty Officer 2nd Class James Suh, 28, of Deerfield Beach, was among 16 troops killed when their Chinook helicopter was shot down June 28 by enemy fire in eastern Afghanistan. He was assigned to SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

His father, a Korean immigrant, moved from Deerfield Beach to Hawaii two years ago to be closer to him.

"My father was extremely proud of his son in a way that wasn't in any way dependent on him being a SEAL," said Suh's sister, Claudia Suh Brown of Benicia, Calif. "He was so proud of the person that he had become."

Brown said she's mourning a little brother who played with G.I. Joe action figures and decided in high school that he wanted to join the elite military unit.

Suh joined the Navy in 2001 and began SEAL training five months later.

Born Sung Gap Suh, he legally changed his name to James Erik Suh to honor his best friend, Erik Esposito, who was accidentally shot and killed at age 15 by another teen.

Esposito's mother, Linda Cleveland of Boca Raton, said Suh sent her cards every Mother's Day.

"He died a man's man, being a SEAL, a warrior," Cleveland said. "Now two best friends can be together."

Two other Florida soldiers, Chief Warrant Officer Chris J. Scherkenbach, 40, of Jacksonville, and Sgt. Kip A. Jacoby, 21, of Pompano Beach, also died in the helicopter crash.

Scherkenbach and Jacoby were members of the Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment known as the Night Stalkers. They were posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Combat Action Badge and other honors.