Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class (SEAL) Jason Dale Lewis

Died July 6, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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30, of Brookfield, Conn.; assigned to an East Coast-based SEAL team; died July 6 as a result of enemy action while conducting combat operations near Baghdad. Also killed were Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class Robert Richard McRill and Cryptologic Technician 1st Class Steven Phillip Daugherty.

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Funeral services set for sailor killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

BROOKFIELD, Conn. — Funeral services are July 14 for a Brookfield sailor killed last week in Iraq.

Petty Officer 1st Class Jason Dale Lewis, 30, a member of the elite Navy SEAL unit, died July 6 when a homemade bomb detonated under the Humvee in which he was riding, military officials said.

Funeral services will be 11 a.m. July 14 at the First Assembly of God Church in Brookfield. Associate pastor the Rev. Mark Cernero, a longtime acquaintance, is expected to take part in the service. Lewis was 4 years old when Cernero first met him.

“He grew up to be an outstanding young man and a real patriot,” Cernero said. “I am very saddened by his departure. How do you replace people like that?”

Burial with full military honors will follow in Center Cemetery, New Milford.

Lewis joined the Navy in 1996 and graduated the following year from basic SEAL training. He was based at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base in Virginia. Lewis lived in Virginia Beach with his wife, Donna, also from Brookfield, and their three children.

On Monday, Gov. M. Jodi Rell, a Brookfield resident, ordered all state and U.S. flags lowered to half-staff.

“He is a hero, not just to us in Brookfield, but to our entire state and our entire country,” Rell said in a statement. “His sacrifice on behalf of all of us will never be forgotten.”