SOCNET | Special Operations Community

[FONT=Arial] [/FONT][B][FONT=Arial]Johnny[/FONT] [/B][B]Koenig[/B] (Class 95)

Several Teammates have informed us about the death of Johnny Koenig. He died on 15 November 2005. Johnny entered the Navy as a Seaman and retired as a Commander having served in many Naval Special Warfare commands. The commands included SEAL Team ONE, UDT -12, SBU-26, SEAL Team THREE, NAVSPECWARCEN, and NAVSPECDEVGRU. He also served as an advisor at MILGRU, El Salvador. Johnny was a veteran of the Viet Nam conflict, Grenada (Urgent Fury), Panama (Just Cause), and numerous classified operations. Those who served with him remember him for his "black and white" approach to problem solving, his straight forward decisions, and his dedication to physical fitness. Johnny was employed by a foreign marketing firm, had just returned from an overseas assignment, and was in Reston, VA. He was working-out, experienced some chest pains, and died of a heart attack.
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Johnny was born in Jackson, MS on 23 August 1948. He was the son of Vera Chalmers Koenig and the late Charles William Koenig. In addition to his father he was preceded in death by his brother, Steven William Koenig. Johnny is survived by his mother of Jackson, MS; his wife, Joyce Lawrence Koenig; a daughter, Tara Evonne Koenig of Key West, FL; two sisters, Jennifer Tauchen of Jackson and Kathy Centanni of LaPlace, LA, and a brother, Mark Koenig of Jackson.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][/FONT]A private funeral was held Monday, 21 November, at Middle Swamp Baptist Church in Gates County, NC. He was buried with full military honors. There is a possibility that a memorial service will be held in Virginia Beach in December. We'll announce the service when details are known. In lieu of flowers Johnny's wife, Joyce, requests that those desiring to honor Johnny's memory, consider a donation in his name to the charity of their choice.

Condolence may be sent to Mrs. Joyce Koenig, 1106 Crist Place, Virginia Beach, VA 23454-5612

[B]Dan Medina [/B](Class 145)

From the Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter (28 October 2005)
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[B][SIZE=2][FONT=Verdana][B]By Kevin Braley[/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/B][I][FONT=Verdana][I]
[/I][/FONT][/I][FONT=Arial][SIZE=3][FONT=Verdana]MANITOWOC - According to family and friends, Daniel R. Medina, of the town of Newton, was a humble man, seldom talking about his accomplishments in the military and health care while frequently giving to the people he knew best. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]On Wednesday, Medina, 38, was found dead in the wreckage of his Jeep Wrangler in a ravine near Pheasant Road and Lakeshore Road south of the Manitowoc city limits. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]Manitowoc County Coroner Debra Kakatsch said Medina died during the accident from head and chest trauma. Sheriff's Lt. John Seim said Medina was not wearing his seatbelt. Alcohol was not a factor, Kakatsch said. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]Medina[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]'s vehicle was headed south on Lakeshore Road when it left the pavement Saturday night, authorities said. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]On Thursday, Medina's parents, Gaenell and Richard Medina, said he had been returning home after watching the University of Wisconsin Badger football game with friends. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]His parents believe Medina fell asleep while driving. There were no skid marks at the scene of the accident, they said. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]Gaenell and Richard Medina said they filed a missing person report Tuesday with the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department after Medina failed to appear at his grandmother's funeral on Monday. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]On Wednesday, a friend, suspicious of a broken guardrail on the route Medina would have taken home Saturday, called authorities who found the vehicle about 40 feet below the roadway, Kakatsch said. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]Gaenell Medina said he was to have served as a pallbearer on Monday. Gaenell Medina's mother, Elizabeth Schneider, 94, died Oct. 20. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]"We knew he took my mother's death pretty hard," Gaenell Medina said. "We thought maybe he wanted to grieve alone." [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]Gaenell Medina said Daniel Medina had spent long nights with Schneider in the days prior to her death. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]"He was a very giving person," Richard Medina said. "He was always helping out and very determined." [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]According to his parents, Daniel Medina lived in Manitowoc most of his life and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1985. Daniel Medina attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for one semester before returning home to join the Navy SEALs, his parents said. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]After serving for six years as a SEAL fighting the drug war in South America, Medina returned home only to join the Air Force Special Forces unit two years later, according to his parents. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]On his way to Air Force training, he pulled bodies of children out of a van on fire on an interstate in the Milwaukee area, his parents said. All of the people in the van were killed, and Daniel Medina burned his hands pulling the bodies out and was admitted to an Air Force hospital before continuing training, his parents said. Medina was awarded an Air Force medal of valor for trying to save the people in the van, according to Gaenell and Richard Medina.[/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]