Sergeant First Class Jeremy W. Griffin called Middle Tennessee home; the Department of Defense listed his hometown as Greenbrier, and his family remembers Clarksville. He entered the Army in April 2004 and would spend 15 years in uniform, first as a paratrooper and then as a Green Beret.
Jeremy began his career with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He deployed with the division to Iraq in 2006 and to Afghanistan in 2009, and he also served with the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) before attending Special Forces training himself. Along the way he earned the Ranger Tab, completed Advanced Land Navigation and attended the Defense Language Institute. In September 2014 he graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course and was assigned as a Special Forces communications sergeant to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
With the 1st Special Forces Group, Jeremy deployed to Afghanistan in 2016 and served on an overseas rotation to Korea in 2018. His military education also includes the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Course, the Advanced and Senior Leader Courses, the Military Free Fall Parachutist, Advanced and Jumpmaster Courses and the Special Operations Terminal Attack Controller Course.
Jeremy was on his fourth combat deployment when he was killed by small-arms fire on September 16, 2019, while his unit was engaged in combat operations in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. He was 40 years old. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart. His other decorations include a second Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, two Army Commendation Medals, four Army Achievement Medals, five Army Good Conduct Medals, the Meritorious Unit Citation, the Korea Defense Service Medal, the NATO Medal, the Special Forces Tab, the Ranger Tab, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Combat Action Badge, the Parachutist Badge and the Military Free Fall Parachutist Badge.
Those who loved him remember a man at peace with the life he had chosen. “I will never forget the night we went out with friends while at JBLM,” one recalled. “He looked at me and said, ‘I love my life.’” That kind of contentment is rare, and his friend remembers that Jeremy lived each day to the fullest and without regret. When he dedicated himself to something, he gave it everything. He loved smoking meats on the grill and smoker and took pride in sharing the results with friends. He never met a stranger, and children and dogs were naturally drawn to him, a gift his son carries today.
Jeremy is survived by his wife, Amy; his son, Charles; his daughter, Makayla; his parents, Charles and Diana Griffin; and his sister, Sabrina D’Antonio.
Jeremy was a warrior of quiet strength who placed his team and mission above everything else.
1st Special Forces Group (Airborne)
Sources
- Department of Defense: DOD identifies Army casualty (Sept. 2019)
- U.S. Army (USASOC): Green Beret killed by small arms fire in Afghanistan
- Stars and Stripes: Army identifies Green Beret killed by small-arms fire in Afghanistan
- Military.com: Special Forces soldier identified as latest combat death in Afghanistan
- Family-provided records on file with MVF: Jeremy Griffin bio
