Three Wise Men: One Family’s Story of Service and Sacrifice

Three Wise Men: One Family’s Story of Service and Sacrifice

Story by Michelle Baldanza

Photos provided by the Wise Family

Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware has a unique and particularly tough mission in our military. It is home to the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations, whose mission is to care for the remains of those from all military branches who have sacrificed their lives in service to our country and to return those remains to their families.

It is almost unthinkable a family might have to travel to Dover Air Force Base to greet a fallen service member more than once, but the Wise family had to do just that after two of their three sons gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation.

The Wise family, from Eldorado, Arkansas, is the embodiment of service and sacrifice. Dr. Jean and Mary Wise raised their four children as true patriots, sharing stories of family members who had served in our nation’s military. Because of this sense of duty instilled by their parents, all three sons chose to enter the military, but as with many families, children can take very different paths. In the Wise family, all three boys chose different branches of the military, but their shared passion and dedication pushed them to the most elite units.

Eldest son Jeremy had decided very early on that he would become a Navy SEAL, but events took him in another direction. Jeremy was in his second year of medical school on Sept. 11, 2001 when he decided to pursue his original dream of becoming a SEAL. He enlisted in the Navy in January 2002 and graduated Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training in April 2004. In August 2009, after three deployments to Iraq, Jeremy left service and became a government contractor supporting the Central Intelligence Agency.

Just a few months later, on Dec. 30, 2009, Jeremy was killed in a suicide bombing that took the lives of seven CIA officials including two private contractors along with two foreign intelligence officers.

The family suffered the second blow a little over two years later on Jan. 9, 2012 when their middle son’s unit was attacked with smallarms fire in Balkh Province, Afghanistan. Ben was medically evacuated to Landstuhl where he succumbed to his injuries on Jan. 15. A sergeant first class assigned to 1st Special Forces Group, he had made it through two deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan, surviving several firefights along with his vehicle hitting an improvised explosive device before the fourth and final deployment.

Jeremy is survived by his wife, Dana, and son, Ethan. Ben is survived by his wife, Traci, and three children, Luke, Ryan, and Kailen.

Youngest son, Beau, a Marine who also served in Afghanistan, is considered the only declared “Sole Survivor” during the war in Afghanistan. He recounts his family’s heroic story in his book, Three Wise Men, which was published this January.

In his book, cowritten with Tom Sileo, Beau talks about how he could continue on after so much loss. He recalls the support his family received, saying his parents were “treated like royalty by the Fisher House staff, along with employees of the USO and other compassionate charities.”

Beau and his parents were guests of the Fisher House for Families of the Fallen at Dover Air Force Base when Jeremy’s remains were repatriated. He and Ben’s wife, Traci, stayed at the Landstuhl Fisher House and then the Dover Fisher House when Ben was returned home.

“Fisher House at Dover Air Force Base and then in Germany made life so much less stressful in the darkest times,” said Beau.

“I am so grateful to everyone that was there for me, Traci, my mother, and father,” he said. “Having to grab an overnight bag and go with virtually no time to prepare. We were given food, winter clothes, and a place to stay directly across the street from Landstuhl hospital, so that we didn't have to worry about anything except being there for Ben. Fisher House will forever hold a very dear place in my heart. God bless Fisher House for all you do for veterans and their families.”

Both the Landstuhl Fisher Houses and The Fisher House for Families of the Fallen played very important roles in helping the families of severely wounded and fallen service members throughout the last 20 years. The first Landstuhl Fisher House was built after the USS Cole bombing in 2000. It opened the summer before 9/11 and has been a place of comfort for families of injured service members. The Fisher House for Families of the Fallen is the only one of its kind. It was dedicated on Nov. 10, 2010, in time for Veterans Day.

“Our mission here and at [Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations] is to honor and respect the fallen and to provide care, service, and support to the loved ones who come to witness them coming home to American soil,” former Dover Fisher House manager Air Force Master Sgt. Stasia T. Smith said. “I want them to know that the people that are there are taking care of them, they mean it, and that their deceased member, their loved one, did not pass away in vain.”

“It’s important that the Wise family and all families who have made the ultimate sacrifice understand that Americans are very grateful,” said Fisher House Foundation Chairman and CEO Ken Fisher. "We dedicated The Fisher House for Families of the Fallen because their sacrifice must be honored.”