Olympia High remembers 2nd Lt. Mike McGahan

As the sound of taps played from the stadium speakers, members of the Olympia and Jones soccer teams stood still.

In front of them, on a table decorated with red, white and blue colors, was a jersey — U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Mike McGahan’s old No. 4 — and a photo of the late Olympia alumnus in his military uniform.

In the stands, McGahan’s family — including his brother, Max, and his mother Carolyn — and members of his widow’s family also stand in silence. It’s a time to reflect during the annual Mike McGahan Memorial Game.

“He was fearless,” said his mother, Carolyn McGahan. “He was so grown up for his age. Every since he was a little boy, I couldn’t believe a young man (could be) so dedicated.”

“For us, we remember him all the time,” said Leslie Tsukamoto, Mike McGahan’s mother-in-law. “But for the kids who don’t know him, you need to hear his story.”

‘IT WAS A SUNDAY’

After finishing boot camp in 2008 at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, Mike McGahan was assigned to the 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

As a second lieutenant, Mike McGahan made a name for himself as a fearless leader throughout his two years of service.

On June 6, 2010 — just two months after he arrived in Afghanistan — Mike McGahan and his platoon of soldiers were on their way back to base when they learned a drone had been taken down. Their mission was to go back and retrieve the drone.

When he and his men got to the drone, insurgents — who had been in hiding — opened fire on the group. After the fight, everyone got up except for Mike McGahan.

The bullet killed him instantly. If there was a silver lining at all, Carolyn McGahan said, it’s that he didn’t suffer.

A service was held at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church before Mike McGahan’s body was taken to Arlington National Cemetery and laid to rest in Section 60, plot 9,163.

CELEBRATING A LIFE WELL LIVED

Every year since Mike McGahan’s death, the Olympia soccer program — which also retired his jersey in 2010 — has put on the Mike McGahan Memorial and Alumni Game to celebrate the life of the former Titan.

Mike McGahan always loved sports growing up, so it was no surprise that by the time he got to Olympia, he was ready for the big stage of prep soccer. His time on the team left an impression on everyone because he was a leader who took charge and helped make the guys around him better, said Daniel McGarigal, one of Mike McGahan’s former teammates.

“Mike was always looking for the best out of us — on the field and in the classroom,” McGarigal said. “He always strived to get the best out of everybody. We had a hard coach — he was Air Force — so we were military trained, but Mike pushed us even more.”

It wasn’t just the leadership that stood out — it was also the toughness he showed.

Teammate Jerry Hatsady, who was also there Monday night in the alumni game, recalls when Mike McGahan showed he was the baddest man on the field.

“I was a goalie, and he went up for a header — literally the first play of the game — and went head to head with a guy and bumped heads,” Hatsady said. “He actually had a bloody head, so we took him out. I was like, ‘Oh man, I’m without my center back,’ and two minutes later he comes back with his head wrapped. And he just came back with the same intensity.”

After his death, the McGahan family sent a letter to former President Barack Obama, who read a part of the note during his 2011 Memorial Day speech before commenting on the indomitable spirit of those such as Mike McGahan.

“That’s what we memorialize today,” Obama said. “That spirit that says, send me, no matter the mission. Send me, no matter the risk. Send me, no matter how great the sacrifice I am called to make.”