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Sean Michael Lee, an Army paratrooper who helped evacuate thousands of people from war zones after leaving active service — including Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall — died Sunday following a battle with esophageal cancer.
Lee served in the Army for 20 years and completed multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the renowned 82nd Airborne Division, according to his obituary.
“He was, to his core, a paratrooper. Long after he took off the uniform, the values forged there remained the organizing principles of his life: duty, loyalty, competence under pressure, and an unwavering commitment to the person beside him,” his obituary states.
Sean Michael Lee in uniform. (Sarah Verardo/The Independence Fund)
Lee continued serving others after his military career ended. In 2021, as the Afghan government fell, he joined the nonprofit Save Our Allies and helped evacuate thousands of people during the disorderly U.S. withdrawal.
The following year, Lee was in Poland delivering supplies to the front lines amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There, he played a crucial role in the effort to evacuate Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was gravely wounded when Russian forces struck his vehicle near Kyiv. Two other members of Hall’s team were killed.
“We got the call, we had just finished up a staff meeting with our folks back in the United States, and I can tell you that in about 90 minutes our guys were out the door and on the way,” Lee told the Daily Caller in a 2022 interview.
Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall visits “The Faulkner Focus” with host Harris Faulkner in New York City on March 15, 2023, to discuss his book, “Saved: A War Reporter’s Mission to Make It Home.” (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Lee also dedicated time to supporting wounded veterans through The Independence Fund.
In 2024, he helped transport life-saving supplies to North Carolina residents affected by Hurricane Helene. According to his obituary, Lee lived in a tent in the Tar Heel State while assisting communities whose support networks had collapsed.
LUKE COMBS AND ERIC CHURCH RAISE MORE THAN $24.5 MILLION FOR HURRICANE VICTIMS AT STAR-STUDDED CAROLINA CONCERT
Sean Michael Lee in front of a tent. (Sarah Verardo/The Independence Fund)
Before his death, Lee had been working under Secretary Doug Collins at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Lee took part in the U.S. military’s 2003 invasion of Iraq and served with the highly regarded Bravo Company of the 2-508 Parachute Infantry Regiment. During one Afghanistan deployment, half of the company received Purple Hearts — a chapter chronicled in Ben Kesling’s book, “Bravo Company: An Afghanistan Deployment and its Aftermath.”
Lee’s two best friends — Sgt. Michael Verardo and Sgt. Allen Thomas — both of whom deployed with him to Afghanistan, passed away before him.
Lee’s cancer was the direct result of his exposure to the burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. He died at age 50.
Sean Michael Lee in Iraq. (U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Visual information Distribution Service (DVIDS))
“I can’t even begin to explain what the world has just lost,” former MMA fighter and Special Forces sniper Tim Kennedy wrote in a post on Instagram.
“This country has lost one of the finest men ever to serve it,” Kennedy’s message continued.
“Sean redefined the word service. He did not just volunteer to put on the uniform and join the 82nd Airborne. He dedicated his entire life to other people. He put his life on the line more times than anyone can count. Wherever people needed help, you found Sean. Whenever I needed help, I found Sean,” Kennedy wrote.
Sean Michael Lee of The Independence Fund pictured next to two men. (Sarah Verardo/The Independence Fund)
Lee’s life “cannot be measured simply in years, deployments, jobs, or missions. It is measured in people who made it home because he went toward danger,” his obituary, shared by Heritage Funeral & Cremation Services, says. “In wounded men carried to safety. In Afghan families given a chance to begin again. In communities that received help when they believed they had been forgotten. In veterans whose lives were better because he continued serving them after his own time in uniform ended. And in the children who simply knew him as Uncle Sean: the constant, fiercely protective man who showed up.”
News Outlet contacted Save Our Allies for comment.
