Navy SEAL Aaron C. Vaughn, 30, of Stuart, Fla. was assigned to an East Coast-based SEAL team. He died August 6, 2011, in Wardak province, Afghanistan. SOC Vaughn was aboard a U.S. Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter on a mission to obtain a high-value target in the mountains. A Taliban fighter shot the helicopter out of the sky with a rocket-propelled grenade. All 38 aboard were killed, including SOC Vaughn.

SOC Vaughn wanted to be a Navy SEAL since he was a little boy. He graduated from high school and went off to college but realized it wasn’t for him and left to join the Navy in November of 2002. During BUD/S school, SOC Vaughn’s name was inscribed on the “First Time Every Try Wall”, a benchmark of honor among the few SEAL trainees who pass every test on the first try.

“He was a tough warrior, but he was a gentle man.” said his grandmother Geneva. “The last time he was in Afghanistan he received a medal because, when his team was under fire and couldn’t see the enemy, he left them, drew fire and killed the enemy to save his team.”

SOC Vaughn is survived by his wife, Kimberly, son Reagan and daughter, Chamberlyn.