Beachnaw, Lucas, SGT

Army Sgt Lucas Tyler Beachnaw was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Camp Ederle, Italy. He was a squad leader on patrol when a firefight erupted and he was killed. Luke graduated in 2004 from Lowell High School in Lowell, Michigan. He attended Grand Rapids Community College for a short time and worked for a company monitoring fire extinguishing equipment. In 2006, he decided the Army was where he needed to be. Luke went through pathfinder and sniper training last year where he earned the top-gun honor as best in his class. In October, he completed a three week school on helicopter landing zones and air navigation – a class that has a high failure rate among participants. He had started his second tour in Afghanistan only last month. Luke loved the outdoors, particularly snowboarding, and had talked about joining the ski patrol in Colorado if he ever left the Army. He also enjoyed hunting, playing football and riding motorcycles. Family and friends will miss his sunny disposition and the way he loved to make others laugh. On the Tuesday before Luke was killed, Luke and his dad had talked on the phone about Luke's daily rigors of Army training school, deer hunting, and the care package of venison summer sausage and jerky that the family was sending him. His father is very proud of the way the military turned Luke from a fine boy into a great man.