Sean Michael Lee died Sunday after battling esophageal cancer. The retired Army paratrooper was widely known for helping rescue Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall following a Russian attack in Ukraine in 2022.
Lee was on the ground in Poland at the time, moving supplies toward Ukraine’s front lines. When Russian forces struck Hall’s vehicle near Kyiv, killing two crew members and severely wounding Hall, Lee joined the extraction effort. “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 said in a 2022 interview with the Daily Caller.
Two Decades in Uniform, Then More Missions
Lee served 20 years in the U.S. Army, deploying multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division. His obituary described him as someone whose military values never left him after he took off the uniform. “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,” it reads.
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After leaving the military, Lee channeled that same drive into civilian service. During the chaotic 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, he worked with the nonprofit Save Our Allies to help evacuate thousands of people as the country’s government collapsed. He also dedicated years to supporting wounded veterans through The Independence Fund. In 2024, after Hurricane Helene tore through North Carolina, he drove to the disaster zone and stayed in a tent to deliver aid to communities whose basic support systems had broken down. You can read more about Sean Michael Lee’s life of service and the full account of his rescue work and death.
A Constant Presence Until the End
Sarah Verardo, a founder of The Independence Fund, offered the most personal account of who Lee was beyond the headlines. Her husband, a fellow 82nd Airborne veteran, suffered catastrophic combat injuries, and Lee walked alongside the family for years, including through her husband’s death.
“Sean walked alongside my husband for years following his catastrophic combat injuries and through his death, and for the better part of a decade, he was a constant presence in the lives of my three girls. He never missed a first day of school or a Halloween with us. Until his final breath, he remained that constant, living with us throughout his cancer battle and, even as his own world became smaller, still wanting to hear about dance recitals, science projects and all the ordinary details of their lives,” Verardo said.
Most recently, Lee worked at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under Secretary Doug Collins. Verardo described his entire career in a single line to Fox News Digital: “Sean spent his life running toward the crisis.”
What Comes After
Lee leaves behind a record of service that crossed continents, disasters, and wars without pause. “Whether evacuating Afghan combat interpreters and their families, helping establish field hospitals in Ukraine, or living out of his car to deliver aid in Western North Carolina, Sean went wherever he was needed most. His service knew no boundaries, and he never wanted fanfare or credit. He simply lived the ethos of ‘send me,'” Verardo said.
“Sean was the definition of a quiet warrior. Our family has lost one of our own, and our nation has lost a patriot whose service never stopped,” she added.
