Corpsman’s sacrifice a model of service for sailors

Home was Colorado. Luke Milam graduated from Columbine High in 1999, the same year he lost a friend in the school shooting rampage.

At 18, he joined the Navy. He became a corpsman, a Navy medic serving with the Marine Corps. That duty took him three times to Iraq, and then to Afghanistan. He never set foot on Everett’s Navy base.

Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Charles Luke Milam was killed in Afghanistan on Sept. 25, 2007. He was 26.

At Naval Station Everett, Milam’s name and heroic story live on. A new barracks that houses single sailors is named in his honor. Today and for generations to come, young men and women will walk past display cases showing his medals, his Boy Scout uniform, even his student ID card from Columbine High School.

“With his whole story, Luke personified a type of young sailor that other young sailors would connect with,” said Ri Milam, Luke’s mother.

Ri and Michael Milam, who live in Lake Forest Park, south of Mountlake Terrace, were at the Everett base April 24 for the dedication of the Charles Luke Milam Bachelor Housing building.

The barracks will eventually house more than 500 sailors. It’s part of the Navy’s Homeport Ashore effort to give single, lower-grade enlisted sailors a chance to live ashore rather than on ships while in port.

Seeing sailors march into their new home, sea bags on their backs, Ri Milam was reminded of barracks where her son lived. “It was nothing nearly this nice,” she said. “These apartments are lovely.”

The dedication was a happy event, but the Milams’ connection to Naval Station Everett began on an excruciating day. When their son was killed, the Navy contacted the Everett base.

Chief Petty Officer Rob Bice, now retired, was sent from Naval Station Everett to notify them that Luke had been killed while conducting combat operations with the 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion. The unit is based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Bice and a chaplain came to their home. “It’s a job nobody wants,” Ri Milam said. Michael Milam said he and Bice became good friends. “I’d go to the base once a week for awhile. Being around Rob and the sailors, it was a comfort,” he said.

Ground had already been broken for the $60 million barracks when Luke Milam was killed. Michael Milam said that as Bice and others learned more about Luke, the naming idea took hold. Capt. Thomas Mascolo, commanding officer of Naval Station Everett, petitioned the chief of naval operations to have the building named in Luke’s honor, Michael Milam said.

Ri Milam believes the Columbine tragedy fueled Luke’s dedication to service.

“He had been at school that day, but he left to go home for lunch. He lost one of his very good friends. He and Isaiah were workout partners,” she said. Isaiah Shoels, 18, was shot to death in the Columbine library on April 20, 1999. He was one of 13 people killed by two gun-toting teens.

“Luke came to the realization that his life had been spared for a reason,” his mother said. “Going into the Navy and being a medic, he felt, ‘No one will ever die because I didn’t know what to do.’ He got every bit of training.”

He also earned two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Star Medals, and many other military awards.

In the barracks Thursday, Petty Officer 1st Class Sonja Chambers and Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph Teachman showed off spacious apartments. Each apartment has two bedrooms, with two single beds, opening onto common living rooms and kitchens. Apartments are nicely equipped with washers and dryers, stainless steel appliances, bathrooms off each bedroom, and large TV areas. There are ping-pong and movie lounges in the building.

“I didn’t get to live off-ship until I was an E5,” said Teachman, adding that it took five years to earn that privilege.

Michael Milam said Luke’s brother Keith had a taste of ship life while in the Navy aboard the USS Independence. “It’s nice that they get to come off and have a life,” he said.

Luke Milam’s mother sees the barracks name as a celebration of her son’s life. “Young sailors will know about Luke long after I’m gone,” she said. “There will be something of him carried forward.”

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, muhlstein@heraldnet.com.