ON SEPTEMBER 13, 2006, Navy Secretary Donald Winter presented the Navy Cross, the nation’s second-highest military award for valor, to the widows of two Navy SEALs killed in Afghanistan. Petty Officers Danny Dietz of Littleton, Colorado, and Matthew Axelson of Cupertino, California, had been part of a four-man team inserted behind enemy lines on June 27, 2005, east of Asadabad. Their position was discovered, and the team fought valiantly against “the numerically superior and positionally advantaged enemy force,” according to the citation that accompanied the awards. Dietz and Axelson were wounded but fought on, providing cover for one SEAL to escape. Dietz’s citation concluded , “By his undaunted courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and absolute devotion to his teammates, Petty Officer Dietz will long be remembered . . . .”

His family and his community sought to ensure that he would be. They raised funds to commission a memorial statue, and in January, the Littleton City Council approved its placement in a park near the school Dietz had attended. Sculptor Robert Henderson is now putting the final touches on the sculpture (a clay model can be seen here, and its unveiling is scheduled for a ceremony on July 4.