AW1 Steven Voight
HS-15 HH-60H
BUNO: Unknown
Born: August 10, 1962
Died: October 25, 1996
Hometown: Unknown
While aboard the USS Enterprise operating in the Persian Gulf. Steve was an AW who was forced to convert his rate in order to become a SEAL. We will always treat him as an AW at heart. Steve is buried at the Greenlawn Cemetary, Waycross, GA.

Steve's last letter to his sister Kathy; written two days prior to his death:
"Alarm goes off. I wake up. It's 0600 hours. Same time I woke up yesterday. And the day before. Actually since June 28, almost 120 days ago. Four months. That's OK, though, because if anyone tries to interfere with the policies of my sacred country, the United States of America, I'll be there to stop them. Two months ago, it was anyone in the Mediterranean. Actually, we could stop anyone in the world.

Breakfast time. Forty-five minute wait in line. Every meal is the same. Standing in line sweating. That's OK, though. There are people in my country who neither know or care that their freedom is being protected at this very moment. That too is OK, because I do know. I'm doing it.

Go to work. Same routine day in and day out. It could be compared to being in jail except that the work we do is too hard and too dangerous to impose upon a criminal. It would be considered inhumane. That's OK, though, I understand freedom and the sacrifices that have to be made for freedom to be achieved. The life we live at the cost of our military members cannot have a price put on it. If you saw our paychecks, you would understand.

Dinner time. Chicken and rice again. That's OK. The opportunities we have in the states are limitless. There is nothing that any person cannot achieve if he/she has the heart. They don't have the opportunities in the parts I've visited. They don't even have Taco Bell."

Shipmates Comments:
1LT Tom Boucher (former AW2):
In reference to the memorial for our fallen AWs; I went to A School in 1986 with Steve Voigt. I did not see him again until the day prior to his crash. I was an Army Lieutenant in Kuwait, and we happened to meet in DOHA Kuwait. He will be missed. I have often thought of my fellow Spearguns and times we shared.

Dennis Smith:
The last time I saw Steve he was headed for BUDs training in San Diego. I heard he made it and was on his way to earning his Trident. I'm not sure if he did before the crash.Steve was very outgoing, easy going, and just a lot of fun to be around. I don't recall too many times when he didn't have a smile on his face. Steve was the most motivated Aircrewman I'd ever met. He had the energy of ten men.

Media Accounts: