Since West Seattle resident, fallen Sailor Jarod Newlove’s body was found July 29, 60 miles from his Kabul, Afghanistan base in a Taliban-controlled area, the community has embraced the tragedy of the death of the 25 year-old sailor by attending a candlelight vigil in his honor and by connecting to his wife, Kimberly, and other family members with hugs and words of support, and even financial help.

Jarod’s brother Will, 28, his only sibling, is also a sailor, stationed in Everett, recently detached from the USS Lincoln. He was a class of 2000 grad at Chief Sealth, three years ahead of Jarod. Will spoke to the West Seattle Herald at a fundraiser held for Jarod’s wife, Kimberly, and two young children at Alki Crab & Fish Saturday, Aug. 21.

“I was supposed to go to San Diego but with all this going on the Navy is being supportive, keeping me in this area to be around my family,” he said. He has bonded strongly with his niece and nephew, Jarod and Kimberly’s son and daughter.

“When this happened it was real tough,” Will said of first hearing the news of his brother’s death. “I turned into a brick wall for a couple of days. I didn’t really shed anything until everything really got finalized and all the ceremonies were going down. The candle light vigil was real awesome. That’s what I always loved about West Seattle. I know every little back road in and out of this place. It’s a tight knit community you don’t even notice until something like this goes down, but we’re on this peninsula, and everybody’s support has been just great, from the Navy, military, community. It’s almost overwhelming.

“It was just the two of us,” Will said. “He lived with me for about a year and a half. We had the brotherly fights as kids but as we got older we watched each others’ backs. I’m the tall, sort of gangly one. He’s shorter and stockier. He wrestled at Sealth. I played football and baseball. He’d take me down in a heartbeat. He came in (the Navy) to better himself. He knew he needed to do something. It’s funny. He’s my little brother but I looked up to him a lot. He manned up, got married, had kids, owns a house, all that stuff, the stuff I’ve wanted to do. He was always the partier and I was always the guy who wanted to settle down, and it reversed itself.”

Will highlighted the two dog tags hanging from his neck.

“This is his, and this one is mine,” he said while clasping the two. “I never wore a dog tag since boot camp. Normally they’re tucked in when I’m working, but I wear them when I’m out and about. The only time these come off is when I’m taking a shower. I go to bed and one hand is holding these and the other is holding my girlfriend.”

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Out of respect to Jarod Newlove, and with the advice of the first two commenters below, I have edited the above story to reflect that Jarod Newlove was a "Petty Officer" and not an "Officer." He was frocked in June so that from an E-4 rank he becomes an E-5 rank, from Petty Officer 3rd Class to Petty Officer 2nd Class, which takes effect shortly, even after his passing.