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Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz of the U.S. Marine Corps tragically died August 26, 2021 while deployed to Afghanistan. Jared, along with 12 other US service members—four of whom were in his squad—was killed in action while assisting with the heroic evacuation efforts that safely transported over 100,000 civilians out of the country from August 15 to August 30. He was 20 years old. Jared was born February 25, 2001 to Sue Livingston-Schmitz and Mark Joseph Schmitz who lived in St. Charles, MO during that time. At a very young age his parents divorced and his mother returned to her hometown of St. Louis while his father remained in St. Charles. Beginning in 2008, he primarily lived with his mother in the Tower Grove South neighborhood of St. Louis, MO, where he spent most of his young adolescence. He attended elementary school at Shaw Visual and Performing Arts School, one year at Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School, and finally finishing middle school at Premier Charter School. It was at PCS where he met one of his closest and dearest friends, Allen Lutz. Allen offered immeasurable support to Jared over the years, and would later attend his boot camp graduation in San Diego, CA in October, 2019. Although by 3rd grade Jared had already expressed his interest in becoming a Marine, he was not as serious a person as this goal may suggest. From the moment he was born, Jared was a loving, silly boy who always had a wide smile on his face. He loved to make people laugh, himself a prolific giggler. He was always active and played several sports growing up, including basketball, soccer, football and hockey. He had a relentless thirst for life and always sought adventure, perhaps most notably the time he and a friend were caught by his mother Sue jumping back and forth from their roof to the neighbor’s. It should be emphasized that he was six at the time. A born daredevil, indeed. After graduating 8th grade in 2015, Jared made the decision to move in with his father Mark and his family in O’Fallon, MO and attend Fort Zumwalt South High School. It was there he would formally commit to becoming a Marine, signing enlistment papers during his senior year. He graduated in 2019 and soon after began the 13-week Marine Corps Recruit Training at MCRD in San Diego, CA, officially completing training and becoming a Marine in October of that same year. Being a Marine was ultimately Jared’s proudest accomplishment, but he made space in his life for his many friends and interests. He loved goofing with friends and cheering on the Blues (LGB!). Oh, and video games of course. Jared was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents Tom and Jean Livingston. He is survived by his parents Sue and Mark, paternal grandmother Sue Cook-Allen, older brothers Jake (Betsy Mikel) Guidry and Cameron Schmitz, and younger sisters Elle and Addison Schmitz. Memorials may be made in Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz name to H.E.R.O.E.S. Care and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. These special loving words were written by the Schmitz family.