Named in Honor of Matthew Axelson
US Navy
6/25/76 - 6/28/05
Matthew attended California State University, Chico, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. In December 2000 he enlisted in the Navy and earned a place in the elite Seal unit and graduated with Class 237 in Coronado, California. He reported to SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 in December 2002 in Hawaii and, in April 2005 Axelson was deployed to Afghanistan.
On June 28 2005 Axelson was assigned to kill a high ranking Taliban leader and was part of a four-man SEAL reconnaissance team (Operation Red Wing) to support Naval Special Warfare’s fight in the Global War on Terror. Axelson was killed during a firefight with Taliban fighters alongside two of his brothers on the SEAL team, Danny Dietz Jr. and Michael Patrick Murphy.
For his heroic actions, PO2 Matthew Axelson was posthumously awarded the second highest citation for valor, the Navy Cross.