Leon 'Pepper' Tagle

Leon J Tagle - to many he was known as brother, son, and husband. But to his fellow Navy SEAL Brothers he was know as 'Pepper'. This man was not just a hardcore Navy SEAL He was once part of my family and most importantly my Hero. I chose to write about him because he made me want to be Navy SEAL. He died in a plane accident on his way to Kosovo. The cause of the plane crash remains a mystery.

My uncle's first taste of war was in Iran. My uncle was a full blown Navy SEAL. He was a sniper, Jumper, Diver, and land infantry. The United States of America first sent the U.S. Military to Iran in 1986. My uncle encountered many different missions. As a SEAL he was put in many different scenarios such as firefights, car bombs, public attacks, suicide bombers, and IED's (Improvised Explosive Devices).

U.S.S. Kidd (FlickrStorm.com (Official U.S Navy Imagery))

My uncle also fought in the Gulf War. The Gulf War 1980-1988 he faced just about the same scenarios. Some names of missions are Desert Shield and  Desert Storm. Some say war is a bad thing but to others it is what they do. The Iraq War may have started terrible but later on SEAL team 6 killed Osama Bin Laden.

Helicopter on patrol (FlickrStorm.com (defence images))

As a retried SEAL my uncle volunteered for the war in Kosovo. Unfortunately the odds were not in his favor. On the tragic day of October 10, 2001 the plane he was in went down. To this day no knows how the plane went down. Some might think lightning, or a terrorist attack. Who knows? My uncle could still be alive.

Navy seals in a patrol boat (FlickrStorm.com (An Honorable German))

My uncle inspired me because he made me want to become navy SEAL. I wanted to stand up and fight for my country. I was also fascinated with the work Navy SEALs took on. I wanted to be the few to truly be a U.S. Navy SEAL.