SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A Coronado-based Navy SEAL killed during intense combat in Iraq was identified Tuesday as a 31-year-old grandson of Charles Keating, the face of the 1980s savings and loan scandal.
Charlie Keating IV, who grew up in Phoenix, died when an Islamic State offensive in northern Iraq broke through Kurdish lines, according to The Arizona Republic. His identity was revealed to the newspaper by a relative.
The special forces operative was about 20 miles north of the ISIS stronghold of Mosul when he was shot. SEAL team members are serving as military advisers in the area.
"It is a combat death, of course, and a very sad loss," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said from Germany.
According to multiple reports, SEALs and airstrikes by U.S. warplanes beat back the ISIS attackers, killing more than 20 of them.
The death is the third of U.S. personnel on the ground in combat against Islamic State forces. Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin, of Temecula, died in March, and Delta Force Master Sgt. Josh Wheeler was killed in an October mission that freed around 70 hostages.
The younger Keating was a champion distance runner in high school, and a cousin of Olympic swimming champion Gary Hall Jr.
His grandfather, who died in 2014, saw his financial empire collapse during the S&L crisis in the late 1980s, when thousands of financial institutions went bankrupt and investors lost their life savings.
The reputations of five senators who stood by the elder Keating, including Alan Cranston of California, were sullied by the association.
NAVY PRESS RELEASE ON CHARLES KEATING IV
US Navy SEAL Killed in Action in Support of Operation Inherent Resolve
CORONADO, Calif. (NNS) -- Special Warfare Operator 1st Class (SEAL) Charles Keating IV, 31, of San Diego, was killed in action in northern Iraq May 3.
Keating died from injuries sustained in combat, during an attack on his team by Islamic State forces. Keating and elements of his team were responding to a local Peshmerga force's request for support when they were attacked.
Keating enlisted in the Navy in February 2007 and graduated from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training with class 266 in June 2008. After graduation, he was assigned to various West Coast based SEAL teams and Naval Special Warfare training commands.
After graduating BUD/S, Keating deployed twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and once to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He then served as the leading petty officer of the West Coast sniper/reconnaissance training cell. Upon completion of his tour as an instructor, Keating checked back into a West Coast-based SEAL team as a platoon leading petty officer in February 2015. He was deployed to Iraq for a third time in support of Operation Inherent Resolve when he was killed.
His award and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V", Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, National Defense Medal and Rifle and Pistol Expert ribbons.