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Sean Michael Lee, an Army paratrooper who went on to help evacuate thousands of people from war zones after leaving the military — including Fox News’ Benjamin Hall — died Sunday following a battle with esophageal cancer.
A 20-year Army veteran, Lee completed multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan with the Army’s renowned 82nd Airborne Division, according to his obituary.
“He was, to his core, a paratrooper. Long after he took off the uniform, the values forged there remained the organizing principles of his life: duty, loyalty, competence under pressure, and an unwavering commitment to the person beside him,” his obituary states.
Sean Michael Lee wearing his military uniform. (Sarah Verardo/The Independence Fund)
After his military career, Lee continued devoting his life to helping others. In 2021, as Afghanistan’s government collapsed, he helped evacuate thousands of people amid the chaotic U.S. withdrawal while working with the nonprofit Save Our Allies.
The following year, Lee was in Poland, helping transport supplies to the front lines in Ukraine during Russia’s invasion. There, he became instrumental in the effort to evacuate Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was badly wounded when Russian forces attacked his vehicle near Kyiv. Two members of Hall’s crew were killed in the attack.
“We got the call, we had just finished up a staff meeting with our folks back in the United States, and I can tell you that in about 90 minutes our guys were out the door and on the way,” Lee told the Daily Caller in a 2022 interview.
Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall appears on “The Faulkner Focus” with host Harris Faulkner in New York City on March 15, 2023, to discuss his book, “Saved: A War Reporter’s Mission to Make It Home.” (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Lee also supported wounded veterans through his work with The Independence Fund.
In 2024, Lee helped deliver life-saving supplies to survivors of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. He lived out of a tent in the Tar Heel state as he helped deliver aid to communities where support systems had collapsed, according to his obituary.
LUKE COMBS AND ERIC CHURCH RAISE OVER $24.5 MILLION FOR HURRICANE VICTIMS AT STAR-STUDDED CONCERT FOR CAROLINA
Sean Michael Lee in front of a tent. (Sarah Verardo/The Independence Fund)
Most recently, Lee had been working under Secretary Doug Collins at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
He was part of the U.S. military’s 2003 invasion of Iraq. He was also part of the storied Bravo Company in the 2-508 Parachute Infantry Regiment. Half of the company received Purple Hearts for an Afghanistan deployment that was documented in Ben Kesling’s book “Bravo Company: An Afghanistan Deployment and its Aftermath.”
Lee’s two best friends — Sgt. Michael Verardo and Sgt. Allen Thomas — both of whom deployed with him to Afghanistan, passed away before him.
Lee’s cancer was the direct result of his exposure to the burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. He died at age 50.
Sean Michael Lee in Iraq. (U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Visual information Distribution Service (DVIDS))
“I can’t even begin to explain what the world has just lost,” former MMA fighter and Special Forces sniper Tim Kennedy wrote in a post on Instagram.
“This country has lost one of the finest men ever to serve it,” Kennedy’s message continued.
“Sean redefined the word service. He did not just volunteer to put on the uniform and join the 82nd Airborne. He dedicated his entire life to other people. He put his life on the line more times than anyone can count. Wherever people needed help, you found Sean. Whenever I needed help, I found Sean,” Kennedy wrote.
Sean Michael Lee of The Independence Fund pictured next to two men. (Sarah Verardo/The Independence Fund)
Lee’s life “cannot be measured simply in years, deployments, jobs, or missions. It is measured in people who made it home because he went toward danger,” his obituary, shared by Heritage Funeral & Cremation Services, says. “In wounded men carried to safety. In Afghan families given a chance to begin again. In communities that received help when they believed they had been forgotten. In veterans whose lives were better because he continued serving them after his own time in uniform ended. And in the children who simply knew him as Uncle Sean: the constant, fiercely protective man who showed up.”
News Media contacted Save Our Allies for comment.