Navy SEAL Brian Bill Remembered

"Anyone would be proud to have him as a son. We were honored to have him as a part of our community."

Those words are part of the heartfelt sentiments voiced by Trinity Catholic High School Assistant Principal Diane Warzoha. On Wednesday, Warzoha talked about the loss of Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Brian Bill, a 1997 graduate of the Stamford-based Catholic high school.

"Whenever you hear about something like this you think of the family, of the community," said Warzoha, a Greenwich resident. "Then you find out it was someone you had daily contact with."

That was the situation on Saturday when news bulletins interrupted a summer weekend - a US armed forces Chinook helicopter was shot down in Kabul, Afghanistan. All 37 American troops and commandos aboard were killed including the 31-year-old Bill, a Stamford native who achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a US Navy SEAL.

"He always wanted to be military. He always wanted to be a SEAL," recalled Warzoha, a former language teacher at Trinity. Bill was a student in her Spanish classes in the mid-1990s.

Bill enlisted in the US Navy in 2001 and had an illustrious career including being award three Bronze Stars, according to his obituary.

Now the Trinity's assistant principal, Warzoha said that whenever he could, Bill would return to the school campus on Newfield Avenue to visit friends and former teachers whenever he visited his hometown of Stamford.

"He was a very reflective young man. A very intense, sensitive person who cared about the people around him," she said.

So it doesn't come as a surprise that Bill's high school friends and former teachers established a tribute to him. A wreath of flowers in the green and yellow school colors, decorated with American flags, was placed outside the school - an effort organized by two close friends, Jonathan Scofield and Andrea Pavia Garrison, Warzoha said.

"He touched the lives of so many many people, they wanted a tangible place for people to come and pay respect," she said.

"Former students and friends have been stopping by. They have set up a Facebook page," Warzoha also said. "We've been getting calls from around the country. We are really touched by all of the sentiments. As a community we are so saddened by such a tragic end for a wonderful young man."

Indeed, he was popular and is being mourned by legions of friends and by people who never met Bill or his family. Nearly 4,000 people have registered on Bill's Facebook page - some recalling memories, others offering condolences and thanking him for his supreme sacrifice.

To pay tribute to Bill, a candlelight vigil is being planned for Saturday night (Aug. 13) to begin at dusk, according to Warzoha. She added, "His class is talking about a way to memorialize him on a long-term basis."

Warzoha said, "The way we look at it - when Brian entered Heaven, people there were saluting him."

Updated, Aug. 10 5:07 p.m.

According to an official press release, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has ordered that all flags in the state of Connecticut fly at half-post until the day after Brian Bill's funeral.

"Chief Petty Officer Bill’s family and friends are in our prayers as we grieve the loss of a true Connecticut hero,” Governor Malloy stated.

“The city of Stamford and the State of Connecticut will always remember the sacrifice that Chief Petty Officer Bill and the other courageous men and women in uniform have made in defense of our nation."

Original Announcement

Chief Petty Officer Brian Robert Bill, 31 of Virginia Beach, Virginia was on August 6th, 2011 in Afghanistan.

Born August 23, 1979 in Stamford, Connecticut. He was the son of Dr. Michael and Patricia Parry of Stamford, CT, and Scott Bill of Sarasota, Florida.

Chief Special Warfare Operator Bill was an Eagle Scout, graduated from Trinity Catholic High School, Stamford and Norwich University, Norwich, VT with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.

In June, 2001 he enlisted in the United States Navy to pursue his life-long dream of becoming a U.S. Navy SEAL. After Basic Training in Great Lakes, Illinois he attended Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training in Coronado, CA. In 2003 he was designated as a SEAL and assigned to an east coast SEAL Team based in Virginia Beach, VA.

Brian was a skilled fly-fisherman, skier and skydiver. He was an accomplished mountaineer with successful summits of Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount Elbrus in Russia. He had completed several marathons and obtained his commercial pilot’s license. He independently studied Russian and became fluent in French.

In addition to his parents he is survived by his grandmother Betty Hardiman, brother Christian Bill, sister Amy Kutney, her husband Chad and daughter Ryder, sister Andrea Sholes, her husband Christopher and daughter Kyra, sister Kerry Welch, sister Tessa Bill, brother Morgan Bill, Aunt Anne Goebel and her husband James, Aunt Sharon Davis, Uncle Thomas Davis and wife Joanne; Aunt Maureen Corcoran; Aunt Mary Sikes and her husband John; Uncle Jeffrey Davis, 12 cousins; Jay Goebel, Kate Noell and her husband Hunter, Martha Goebel, Molly Goebel, Gregory Davis, Julia Davis, Sophia Davis, Johnny Sikes, Bennett Sikes, Kitt Sikes, Stephen & Sue Parry, Great Uncle Monsignor William Nagle, Great Uncle Dr. & Mrs. John Nagle, their children, John, Jeffrey, Brian, Kathleen, Kerry and their families.

A mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Saint Cecilia Church, 1184 Newfield Avenue, Stamford, CT; funeral arrangements to be announced. Leo P. Gallagher & Sons Funeral Home will handle the arrangements. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA

Donations may be made to Navy SEAL Foundation at nswfoundation.org.