Politics
Veteran Who Saved Fox News Star’s Life In War Zone Passes Away
When Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall needed a way out of Ukraine after a devastating Russian attack, Sean Michael Lee helped bring him home.
The retired Army paratrooper, whose rescue and relief work stretched from Afghanistan to hurricane-ravaged North Carolina, died Sunday after battling esophageal cancer, according to his obituary.
Lee was working in Poland in 2022, helping move supplies to Ukraine’s front lines, when he joined the effort to extract Hall. Russian forces had attacked the correspondent’s vehicle near Kyiv, severely wounding him and killing two members of his crew.
“We got the call, we had just finished up a staff meeting with our folks back in the United States, and I can tell you that in about 90 minutes our guys were out the door and on the way,” Lee explained to the Daily Caller during a 2022 interview.
For those closest to Lee, that readiness to help extended well beyond a crisis overseas.
Sarah Verardo, a founder of The Independence Fund, said Lee became part of her family as he supported her husband, a fellow 82nd Airborne Division veteran who suffered catastrophic combat wounds.
Even while fighting cancer, Lee remained invested in the lives of her three daughters.
“Sean walked alongside my husband for years following his catastrophic combat injuries and through his death, and for the better part of a decade, he was a constant presence in the lives of my three girls. He never missed a first day of school or a Halloween with us. Until his final breath, he remained that constant, living with us throughout his cancer battle and, even as his own world became smaller, still wanting to hear about dance recitals, science projects and all the ordinary details of their lives. He showed up for the defining moments and the ordinary ones because, to Sean, service was never a job or an assignment. It was simply who he was,” she said.
Sean Michael Lee spent 20 years in the Army, deploying multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne, according to his obituary.
POLL: Should Fox News Fire Jessica Tarlov?
“He was, to his core, a paratrooper. Long after he took off the uniform, the values forged there remained the organizing principles of his life: duty, loyalty, competence under pressure, and an unwavering commitment to the person beside him,” his obituary reads.
Leaving the military brought more missions.
Lee helped evacuate thousands of people with the nonprofit Save Our Allies during the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan as the country’s government fell. He also supported wounded veterans through The Independence Fund.
“Sean spent his life running toward the crisis. After more than two decades in uniform and multiple combat deployments, he continued that service through The Independence Fund, Save Our Allies and ultimately the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Verardo told Fox News Digital.
In 2024, Lee headed to North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, delivering lifesaving supplies to survivors. His obituary described him staying in a tent while helping communities whose support systems had broken down.
“Whether evacuating Afghan combat interpreters and their families, helping establish field hospitals in Ukraine, or living out of his car to deliver aid in Western North Carolina, Sean went wherever he was needed most. His service knew no boundaries, and he never wanted fanfare or credit. He simply lived the ethos of ‘send me.’” Verardo said.
Most recently, Lee worked at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under Secretary Doug Collins, continuing a career devoted to serving troops, veterans, and people caught in disaster.
“Sean was the definition of a quiet warrior. Our family has lost one of our own, and our nation has lost a patriot whose service never stopped,” Verardo concluded.
