Staff Sergeant Kevin J. McEnroe was born on July 8, 1986, and grew up on the northeast side of Tucson, Arizona. He attended Esperero Middle School in the Catalina Foothills School District, where he made lifelong friends. “He was a little bit of a class clown in school,” his mother, Linda Frost, remembered. “When he walked into the room, he had this magnetism.” His boyhood friends said much the same. “It could be the worst day of your life and Kevin would come in and you just forget about everything,” one of them recalled. “He brings out the best in everybody around him.”
Kevin entered the Army in April 2008 and went on to earn the Green Beret. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. His military education includes the Special Forces Qualification Course, the Combat Diver Qualification Course, the Special Operations Terminal Attack Controller Course, the Basic and Advanced Leader Courses, the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Course and the Basic Airborne Course. Besides English, he was fluent in Arabic and Russian. His mother said he loved music, clothing, travel and family; she fondly called him a male fashionista. “Kevin was very proud to be of service to his country and honored to be among the best of the best,” she said.
Kevin served on several overseas tours in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and other contingency operations. In the fall of 2016 he was in Jordan with his team on a training mission with partner forces in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. On November 4, 2016, as the Green Berets’ convoy was entering a Jordanian military base at al-Jafr, a guard opened fire on their vehicles. Kevin was killed along with his teammates, Staff Sergeants Matthew Lewellen and James Moriarty. He was 30 years old.
Kevin was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge. His other decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, two Army Good Conduct Medals, the NATO Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with campaign star, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service Medals, the Special Forces Tab, the Combat Diver Qualification Badge and the Parachutist Badge.
On December 5, 2016, Kevin was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, and Arizona’s governor ordered flags flown at half-staff in his honor. “He put his life on the line for a higher purpose and sacrificed so that others would be kept safe,” said Representative Martha McSally of Tucson. In a message to family and friends, his father, Brian, wrote that Kevin was “as proud of his service as he was to serve” and that the loss would be felt by “his mom and dad, his brothers, his grandmother, his beloved Kimberly and all his friends and brothers-in-arms.” “I will honor his memory for the remainder of my life,” he wrote. “We will miss your handsome smile and your kind heart.”
Kevin is survived by his mother, Linda Frost; his father, Brian McEnroe; and his twin brothers, Chris and Nick.
Kevin was a brother whose warm smile, fierce tactical precision and unwavering devotion to his team defined what it means to be a Green Beret.
3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne)
Sources
- Department of Defense: DoD identifies Army casualties (Nov. 6, 2016)
- U.S. Army: 5th Special Forces Group casualties identified
- KOLD Tucson: Tucson soldier laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery
- Cronkite News: State officials extend condolences over Tucson native killed in Jordan
- Arizona Daily Star: Staff Sgt. Kevin J. McEnroe, Green Beret
- Family-provided records on file with MVF: Kevin McEnroe bio
