PHOENIX (AP) — The mother of a U.S. Navy SEAL killed during combat in Iraq says her son was proud to be a SEAL and wanted to be one since he was a young boy.
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Charles Keating IV was shot and killed Tuesday during a gunbattle involving Islamic State fighters.
Krista Joseph of Jacksonville, Florida, said in a statement Wednesday that her son wanted to serve his country and that he died doing what he loved.
She says “he was our golden boy with a million-dollar smile and a heart of gold.”
Keating was a grandson of Arizona financier Charles H. Keating Jr. and grew up in Phoenix, where he was a star distance runner in high school. Keating ran track and cross country at Indiana University.
