SEATTLE, WA, USA U.S. Army SFC, HQ, USASOC, FORT BRAGG, NC AL QAIM, IRAQ 06/01/2005
Growing up, Steven Langmack used to act like a tough guy. Then he became an Army Ranger and Green Beret and he didn’t need to act tough anymore.
“When he went in, he decided he was going to be a Ranger,” his brother David said. “If he was going to do it, he was going to do it the best he could.”
Langmack, 33, of Seattle, was killed May 31 by small-arms fire in Qaim, Iraq.
Gregarious and outgoing, Langmack and his wife, Rachaelle, lived on a farm in Raeford, N.C., near Fort Bragg with their sons, Sam, 16, and Carson, 7. He played baseball in high school and enlisted after graduating in 1990. He had been in the Army for 15 years, serving in the Gulf War and in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was an expert paratrooper and once belonged to a precision skydiving team.
In e-mails to his family, he didn’t talk much about the war. He focused on his wife and children and the home renovations he planned when he got back.
“He was always upbeat. He felt very committed to what he was doing, but he wouldn’t talk about it,” said his mother, Louise Langmack. “He felt it was an important job.”
Steven Langmack joined the Army 15 years ago.
“I just thought the military would give him a good physical outlet,” said Louise Langmack of Seattle.
Sergeant First Class Langmack grew up in the Seward Park neighborhood and graduated from Kennedy in 1990. He started on the school baseball team and was a “good all-round player,” said his former coach, Joe Faccone.
“He was an outstanding kid,” Faccone said. “He represented the school well. I’m proud to be associated with him.”
After graduation, SFC Langmack decided to make the military a career and served in the Persian Gulf War. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he was assigned to Afghanistan. He was in Iraq about three months before he died.
As the family made funeral plans, Louise Langmack credited the military with giving structure and opportunity to her son’s life. On Memorial Day, she sent him an e-mail, saluting his service to the nation. He never e-mailed back.