Aaron Carson Vaughn

Navy SEAL, formerly of Stuart, remembered as loyal man who loved family, county
By Eric Pfahler, TCPalm

The parents of elite Navy SEALs member Aaron Carson Vaughn remember their son as a loyal man who loved God, his family and his country.

Vaughn, a former Martin County High School student, was one of 38 killed when a U.S. military helicopter was shot down Saturday in Afghanistan.

"The immediate thing on my mind right now is just that I get to brag about all the great things my son did because while he was alive, we couldn't talk about any of it," Aaron's mother and Stuart resident Karen Vaughn said. "It really is a pleasure to get to tell the world how amazing he was."

The 30-year old leaves behind his wife, Kimberly, and two children, 2-year-old son Reagan and 2-month-old daughter Chamberlyn. Karen Vaughn said there were no immediate plans for a memorial in Stuart, though there might be one planned later.

"Aaron was just a blessing to raise," she said. "He was the treasure. He loved God. He loved his family. He loved his wife and his babies and he loved his country in a way that most people don't even understand."

Aaron Vaughn attended Martin County High School for a few months during his senior year before returning to Obion County, Tenn. to graduate with his former classmates. He played football for Martin County before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, his father, Billy Vaughn said.

After graduating high school, Aaron Vaughn attended what is now called Indian River State College and earned an associate's degree before enlisting in the Navy on his 21st birthday after Sept. 11, 2001, his father said. Aaron Vaughn was working on a bachelor's degree at the time of his death.

"He grew up loving his country, he loved his family and he loved his Lord, and he died a believer, and he believed in this country and the liberties that we have here," Billy Vaughn said. "And he believed it to the point that he was obliged as a Christian believer to fight fundamental Islamic terrorists around this world because he believed it was a threat to his children and to his wife and to all of our western civilization way of life."

As soon as he joined, he went right into the Navy SEALs training program. By doing so, he achieved a lifelong dream, said Geneva Vaughn, Aaron's grandmother.

"He was a smart, gentle, happy boy," Geneva Vaughn said Sunday when reached by phone at her home in Union City, Tenn. "But he stood firm on his convictions even as a young boy."

Aaron Vaughn had been based in Virginia Beach, Va. and had also seen postings in Coronado, Calif., Guam, Germany, Iraq and Afghanistan. As of Sunday afternoon, the Facebook page "Prayers for Family of Aaron Vaughn, Navy Seal" had 2,860 "likes", which is a way for people to show interest or support in a page. Another page "In memory of Navy Seal Aaron Carson Vaughn" also had been created.

"We're finding that he was loved by a lot of people in a lot of places, and he's been in a lot of places these last few years," Billy Vaughn said. "He was kind of an extreme on both ends. He was a gentle man, but at the same time he had passion, strong passion to fight and believed that he was doing the right thing by killing people who were a threat to our nation, our way of life."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.