Roughly 300 gather to remember Sean Harvell, decorated veteran who drowned off Alamitos Beach

Mouers filled row after row of seats inside the chapel at Forst Lawn Memorial Park in Long Beach as hundreds gathered to honor Sean Harvell, who drowned last week off Alamitos Beach.

Harvell, 33, was one of the nation’s most highly decorated veterans of the War on Terror, but his military service was only part of what made him an amazing person, said his friends and family who spoke at the memorial service.

He was buried Friday afteoon at Los Angeles National Cemetery next to his younger brother Andrew Harvell, who was killed in action in 2011 in Afghanistan when the helicopter he was riding in was shot down by Taliban insurgents.

In story after story, friends and family summed up a man who commanded attention with his mere presence; who was a bo leader, a fearsome warrior, a fun-loving motorcycle rider, a loyal friend and a devoted father.

Finding peace

After he was medically retired from the military, Sean’s life was stable for about one year, said Sgt. Joshua Webster, who spoke at the memorial service. But things fell apart after Andrew’s death.

“He fell into a bit of a jouey into himself that he needed to explore completely before he could move on,” Webster said.

During that jouey, Sean Harvell worked through his pain and coected with his mother, Jane Maher.

“In the past year or so, he’d really come around,” Maher said. “I’m glad that we recoected because I lost him after Andy for a long time.”

Eventually, Sean found peace in Buddhism, and in spending time with his daughter Lily, Webster said before sharing a story.

“After Andy’s death, Sean had this tattoo under his eye,” he said. “After four, five years he decided he was willing to move on and he wanted to do something memorable. Memorable for him tended to be kind of extreme.”

Sean called Webster to his motorcycle shop, saying he wanted to get the tattoo removed but that he was unwilling to get laser removal, so the two of them dug around and found a Dremel tool they thought might do the job.

“I spent the next hour trying to Dremel it out of his face [...] he wanted it gone,” Webster said. “It was important for him and it was important for me that he asked me. Instead of coming up here and talking about Sean in a two-dimensional sense — Sean was brave and Sean was sweet — I don’t think you can tie a nice bow around him. He was too complicated of a guy.”

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A true warrior

Col. Michael Flatten, 24th Special Operations Wing vice commander, said Sean Harvell always stood out ahead of the pack, even in the elite world of military special forces.

Sean was finishing an arduous two-year training pipeline in Florida when they first met, Flatten said.

“Even then it was obvious that Sean was something special,” he said. “He would draw people to him. He had a gregarious, outgoing personality. Everybody wanted to be around Sean.”

Harvell was the one guy who could change the course of a battle and bring everyone home, Flatten said, before recounting actions in combat in 2007 that eaed him two Silver Stars.

Several more of Harvell’s friends shared stories, many saying he had a unique ability to see through people and would always speak from the heart.

“He had absolutely no fear in any situation,” said Steve Barrons, a retired Combat Controller who was an instructor when Harvell was in training and later his friend. “He always lived in the moment [...] When we spoke, it was a conversation that mattered. It wasn’t about the weather or the news. You talked to him directly and he talked to you. He addressed what was inside you. You can’t hide from Sean. Nobody could, and that was the key.”

Remembering a life

Sean Harvell was bo on Nov. 9, 1982 in Long Beach to his mother, Jane Maher and father, John Harvell, according to a post by Laura Herzog, founder of Honoring Our Fallen, a Cypress-based nonprofit that assists the families of fallen military service members. After high school, he joined the U.S. Air Force where he eventually became a Combat Controller.

Harvell served four deployments in Afghanistan where he eaed two Silver Stars, three Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts, Herzog said in her post. After his third deployment Harvell moved back to Long Beach for the birth of his daughter, Lily Jane.

After leaving the Air Force, he founded a motorcycle repair company called 710 Speed Shop, before begiing work as a defense contractor, she said.

In addition to his daughter, mother and father, he is survived by his daughter’s mother, Tiffany Sidwell; sister Analese Eder; his grandmother, Mimi; aunts, an uncle, cousins and two nephews.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to a trust fund being set up in Lily Jane Harvell’s name by Jane Maher and Laura Herzog. Contact Herzog at [email protected], or mail a check payable to: Lily Harvell trust care of Honoring Our Fallen, Honoring Our Fallen, 11436 Seabrook Way, Cypress, CA 90630.