After graduating from Fort Zumwalt South High School in Wentzville, Missouri in 2019, Jared Schmitz went on to become an infantryman with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines at Camp Pendleton. He was stationed in Jordan before his unit was given orders to deploy to Afghanistan, Schmitz’s first deployment.
“He loved what he did and […] he never complained once. He always had your back if you needed it,” said Eris Luttrell, a former classmate. Schmitz wanted to make a difference and he found that purpose in the Marine Corps. Though his father feared for him getting into a dangerous line of work, he knew his son was where he wanted to be. It fit him “like a glove.” Schmitz was not the best student but when it came to the Marines, he had laser focus. He had to ask his parents’ permission when he signed up as he was only 17 years of age.
His father, Mark Schmitz, talked extensively with St. Louis Talks radio saying, “He took his job very seriously. Someone came along, took the easy way out, and ended everything for him.” According to his father, Schmitz had always wanted to serve in the Marine Corps. “I’ve never seen a young man train as hard as he did to be the best soldier he could be. That’s a big part of why we are all obviously devastated and sad, but there’s so much anger right now because he wasn’t even given that opportunity to demonstrate all the skills he had protected and learned while in the Corps,” said his father.
He stated he had spoken with his son on the phone the morning he was killed. That’s when he learned where his son was going. They continued to text each other, but the communication stopped for the entire day after the bombing. At 2:40 am, two uniformed men arrived at his doorstep. “My heart just sunk,” he says. He noted that it took them forever to get him to comprehend the news. In his mind, he was still thinking that his son was only injured.
In the days that followed, he looked back on all the text messages he and his son exchanged. On Father’s Day, “my son is telling me how proud he is of me. He has no idea. I can’t even hold a candle to that young man.” He was comforted that he sent a last “I love you” just before Jared was killed.
Mark Schmitz emphasized, “These aren’t just words. These guys literally are gone. They have sacrificed everything for this country and please respect all military for what they put their rear ends on the line to do. This is not a game. This is real. I’ll never see my son get married […] do anything — provide me grandkids — anything. It’s all gone now. It didn’t need to happen; it shouldn’t have happened. But love our military, support (them). All of them. Turn out by the thousands when all these brothers and sisters come home to their final resting places.” When asked by St. Louis Talks radio what he wanted Americans to remember, the devastated father added, “Be afraid of our leadership, or lack thereof. Pray every day for the soldiers who are putting their lives at risk […] protecting all of us. I think they’re the only ones that we can honestly say have our backs.”
“My son is telling me how proud he is of me. He has no idea. I can’t even hold a candle to that young man.”
Every time you use the CharityRx Card to save money on a prescription in September and October, we will donate to help the Fallen U.S. Service Members’ families.
Photos courtesy of:
wealthyspy.com and kmov.com
