Part IIII: Navy SEAL Neil C. Roberts: ‘In this simple grave … lies a national hero’
A picture of Navy SEAL Neil C. Roberts is placed on his gravesite in York, Pa.’s Prospect Hill Cemetery. In a ceremony honoring Roberts, the first military man with York County links to die in the War on Terrorism, the speaker said: ‘In this simple grave … lies a national hero’. After Osama bin Laden’s death, his gravesite was also appropriately honored. (See below for details.) Also of interest: Part I: Navy SEAL Neil C. Roberts: ‘In this simple grave … lies a national hero’ and Part II: Navy SEAL Neil C. Roberts … and Part III: Navy SEAL Neil C. Roberts … and Photographs of those who died in the Global War on Terrorism.
This Memorial Day comes a little less than a month after Navy SEALS found and killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.
York Daily Record/Sunday News columnist Mike Argento visited Navy SEAL Neil C. Roberts gravesite at Prospect Hill Cemetery and came back with these poignant comments: …
On the day after our badass-in-chief announced the whacking of the world’s most-wanted, I went to Prospect Hill Cemetery and visited the grave of Chief Petty Officer Neil Roberts.
Roberts was a SEAL, the baddest of the badasses. He was killed in Afghanistan in 2002. The crew that took out bin Laden were his brothers in arms.
His grave is in the Trinity section of the cemetery, near the crux of a giant cross fashioned from shrubs on a sloping hill.
The grass was newly mown. It was quiet, save the hum of traffic on Pennsylvania Avenue and Route 30 and the chirping of birds. Three small American flags and a plastic pinwheel decorated his final resting place.
Somebody placed Monday’s newspaper on his grave, the one announcing the death of bin Laden. They also left a half-pint of Crown Royal Canadian whiskey.
There is little indication on the simple bronze marker of who he was. The Navy SEAL Trident is in the center of the marker. To the left is the number 184. Roberts was a member of the 184th class to graduate from Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL, called BUD/S. In the fraternity of badasses, he would always be a “BUD/S 184.”
On Sunday, finally, his mission was accomplished.
Requiescat in pace, Mr. Roberts.
That other guy, not so much.
(To view the full column, visit: Obama played it cool.)
Mike Argento captured the scene at Neil C. Roberts’ gravesite after SEALs took out Osama bin Laden. Argento’s only comment on the blog post where this appeared: ‘Rest in peace, Mr. Roberts.’
The York Daily Record’s front page telling about Osama bin Laden’s death.
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