When I attended Ohio State in 1976, I got to know Jeff Scharver, another Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps midshipman. Jeff was a great friend to everyone – very sociable and giving. I always remember Jeff’s smile, because it was always there. It was a part of him. He was a good friend and a great Marine.
In the 1983 invasion of Grenada on 25 October, Jeff’s section of two AH-1T (TOW) Sea Cobra Attack Helicopters were supporting a small SEAL team that had been sent in to rescue the Governor General, who was under house arrest by the communists and the supporting Cuban forces.
One of the Cobras, piloted by Captain Timothy Howard, with Captain Jeb Seagle as the co-pilot/gunner, was shot down by Cuban ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft cannon fire and landed on the beach. Tim Howard despite being badly wounded, eventually losing an arm, managed to crash land the Cobra. Jeb pulled Tim Howard out of the burning Cobra and put a tourniquet on his arm. Spotting Cuban troops advancing and firing at them, Jeb then deliberately drew the Cubans away from Tim. A rescue CH-46 helicopter landed and collected Tim Howard, but Jeb had been shot and killed by the Cubans.
While this was happening, Jeff Scharver and his pilot, Captain John Guigerre, were making gun runs attacking the Cubans near the first Cobra. They managed to keep the Cubans from directly approaching Jeb Seagle and Tim Howard, but they eventually ran out of ammunition. They continued to make runs against the Cubans as the CH-46 was recovering Tim Howard, time after time being hit by 23mm cannon fire. Jeff and John Guigerre were killed instantly when their Cobra hit the water after being repeatedly hit by 23mm cannon fire.
Jeb was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously. Tim Howard, eventually a Marine Corps Colonel, received the Silver Star. John Guigerre and Jeff also received the Silver Star posthumously, although they were originally recommended for the Medal of Honor.
The invasion of Grenada occurred shortly after the 23 October bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, where 241 Marines, sailors and soldiers were killed, and the simultaneously bombing of the French barracks, which killed 58 troops. The bombings overshadowed those who gave their lives in Grenada, but those who knew them remember those heroes today.
Jeff, Jeb, John and Tim were heroes. They gave everything in the defense of our country. Three paid the ultimate price to help ensure our country had the chance to succeed. It is they, and over a million more Americans, who we honor on Memorial Day. I have others who I had the honor to serve with that I will remember, but Jeff will always be special. His smile is still with me.
“No one shows greater love than when he lays down his life for his friends.” – John 15:13