On 7 April 2003, while on a third bombing pass over Tikrit, Iraq, Captain Eric Bruce Das died during Operation Iraqi Freedom when the F-15E Strike Eagle he piloted crashed in a field of wheat just outside Saddam Hussein’s hometown.

Born in the Netherlands, Eric first learned about service from his parents who served as missionaries overseas. Eric graduated from the United States Air Force Academy from Raging Bull 6 Cadet Squadron (CS6) in 1995 with a degree in Civil Engineering. In later years, especially when working in the yard or grilling, Eric often donned a favorite tee-shirt that commemorated a CS6 tradition—the annual Pig Roast.

Following his commission, Eric chose to serve as an engineer at Kelly Air Force Base. After he graduated pilot training from Laughlin Air Force Base, he moved through the F-15E pipeline and then to his first operational unit (90FS) at Elmendorf Air Force Base. There in Alaska, Eric and his good friend’s sister, Nikki Skibinski, met in 1999. Eric deployed between 1998 and 2000 to Korea and Turkey. He and Nikki married and joined back up in North Carolina just after September 11, 2001. When the operational units at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base needed augmenters from the (333rd & 334th) training squadrons in January 2003 to deploy for Operation Iraqi Freedom, Captain Das chose to volunteer. Eric also volunteered to be closer to his wife, who was deployed with the operational units.

Eric is buried at the Air Force Academy in a single plot and also in a group burial in a Section 60 grave at Arlington National Cemetery with his Weapon Systems Officer, Lieutenant Colonel William R. Watkins III (a 1989 USNA graduate), who was flying with Eric that fateful night.

Captain Das is survived by his spouse, parents Bruce and Rosie, sisters Melody Das and Elisa Maher (Will, USAFA ‘95), nieces Sarah, Grace, Rachel, and Millie, and nephew Eric, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, and a great multitude who loved him deeply.

As a final testament to Captain Das’ character, the operational unit with which he flew in Iraq (335FS) posthumously awarded Eric the name “Chief Faithful Servant”. Although nicknamed “Dasman” during his younger years, the callsign “Boot” is what many know and dearly remember him by as a pun to the WWII movie title “Das Boot” and because most of his life was lived in Amarillo, Texas. Boot could also 2-step like a champ, always had his cowboy hat and boots nearby, and made great food to share. Captain Das was also awarded (posthumously) the Distinguished Flying Cross and Purple Heart.

$10 from every Captain Das bracelet sold will go to The Navigators, an international, interdenominational Christian ministry established in 1933. The Navigators organization reaches people where they work, live, worship, and play: on college campuses military bases, in inner cities, workplaces, churches, and local communities, and in hard to reach places. The Navigators choose to glorify God by sharing the hope of Christ with the hopeless, and walk out their faith as witnesses to the broken of this troubled world.

Here’s a toast.