Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Charles Luke Milam

Died September 25, 2007 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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26, of Littleton, Colo.; assigned to 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Sept. 25 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, while conducting combat operations.

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Columbine graduate killed in Afghanistan

The Associated Press

LITTLETON, Colo. — A Columbine graduate who joined the Navy two months after the 1999 school shooting has been killed in combat in Afghanistan.

The Defense Department said Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Charles Luke Milam of Littleton, a decorated Navy corpsman, died Tuesday in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. The 26-year-old was assigned to the 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Keith Milam said his brother, who was known as Luke, wasn’t shot at or wounded at Columbine. But he thinks the shootings, which left 12 students and a teacher dead, may have inspired him to become a corpsman and treat fellow service members for everything from everyday pain to combat injuries.

He said his brother had served three tours in Iraq before being sent to Afghanistan.

“He felt it was his duty to do whatever he could to help people in the military. He was a hero in every sense of the term,” said Keith Milam, who also served in the Navy as did his two grandfathers.

Milam was awarded the Purple Heart and named special operations commander of the year, his family said.