Sergeant First Class Will Duston Lindsay was born on August 26, 1985, in Cortez, Colorado, to Grant and Tammy Lindsay. He grew up in the Four Corners region with his brothers, Levi and Cole, and graduated from Montezuma-Cortez High School in 2004. A true Colorado native, Will loved to hunt and fish, and he liked working with his hands. He later built projects around his house and finished the family’s basement all by himself. When he had free time, he shamed friends on the golf course with his mid-70s game.
Will joined the Army immediately after high school, enlisting on July 7, 2004. After One Station Unit Training and the Basic Airborne Course at Fort Benning, Georgia, he went straight into the Special Forces pipeline. He completed the Special Forces Qualification Course and earned his Green Beret in July 2006, reporting to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Carson, Colorado. He would spend his entire Special Forces career with the group, rising to assistant operations and intelligence sergeant with Company A, 2nd Battalion.
Will’s deployments included five tours to Iraq in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn, a 2016 deployment to Tajikistan in support of the counter-narcotics terrorism mission and service in Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Along the way he completed the Basic and Advanced Military Free Fall Courses, the Special Operations Target Interdiction Course, Advanced Special Operations Techniques, the Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant Course, the Special Forces Senior Leader Course and the Army Special Operations Forces Master Leader Course.
In 2010 Will married the love of his life, Sarah Unger, and together they had four daughters. Sarah and the girls were the center of his world. Family and friends remember him as a devoted husband, a dedicated father and a generous, trustworthy and reliable friend.
On March 22, 2019, Will was killed in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained during combat operations. He was 33 years old. His decorations include the Silver Star Medal, four Bronze Star Medals, the Purple Heart, two Meritorious Service Medals, the Valorous Unit Award, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Special Forces Tab, the Military Free Fall Jumpmaster Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge, the Senior Instructor Badge and Chilean Airborne Wings.
Five months after his death, several hundred community members, soldiers and loved ones gathered at Parque de Vida in Cortez to honor their hometown hero. Local fire departments, veterans’ posts, Blue Star Mothers and a pipe band joined in the tribute, and members of the 10th Special Forces Group joined his family for the occasion. “What an honor it is to be part of such an amazing community,” his family wrote afterward.
Will is survived by his wife, Sarah; their four daughters; his parents, Grant and Tammy Lindsay; his brothers, Levi and Cole; his grandparents; his parents-in-law, Bruce and Judy Unger; and a large extended family.
Will was a giant among men—a master operator, devoted husband to Sarah and loving father to four daughters.
10th Special Forces Group (Airborne)
Sources
- U.S. Army (USASOC): U.S. Army Special Operations Soldier killed in Afghanistan
- USASOC Memorial Wall biography: Sgt. 1st Class Will Lindsay
- Green Beret Foundation: Will D. Lindsay
- The Journal (Cortez): Thank you from the Lindsay family
- Spot On Colorado: Green Beret honored in Cortez memorial service
- Family-provided records on file with MVF: Will Lindsay bio
