Houstonians celebrate Veterans. We do it with thankful hearts in appreciation to those still with us, and with memories of those who have passed on. For those who do not have a direct relation to someone who has served, this Veteran’s Day we wanted to bring you the story of a fallen brother to celebrate.
Jimmy was a hometown soldier killed while on active duty in Jordan. His death along with two other comrades eventually led to a trial and a life sentencing of a Jordanian soldier.
Staff Sargent James F. Moriarity, “Jimmy” served us as a Green Beret in the 5th Special Forces Group and was killed in 2016 just one week before Veteran’s Day.
We have a very special memorial dedicated to our Texas brother, Jimmy.
By: Melissa and Rebecca Moriarty, Gold Star Sisters
Jimmy Moriarty, a Houstonian and Strake Jesuit alumnus, wa
s a soldier, a brother, a son and a comrade. He was everyone’s best friend. He was KIA last November 4, 2016, in Jordan on a CIA secondment with the U.S. Army Special Forces. He was just 27 years old.
As his older sisters, we had the special opportunity to see him throughout all his chapters in his life. To be totally frank… he was a pain in our sides for a long time. He was stinky. Annoying. He embarrassed us in front of our cool friends. We dressed him up in our clothes, painted him with our mom’s makeup and paraded him around the house. He was our play toy, and he loved every minute of it because he got 100% of our attention.
As he grew up, he slowly started to turn into his own person. We were by his side as he went from West University T-Ball to playing lacrosse at Strake Jesuit. As the baby he got all the attention from our parents, he broke all the rules without castigation, and the funny thing about it is that no one cared; Jimmy was the type of person that was so transparent and unabashedly honest, that you would always go to bat for him. Even his older sisters. We went from hating his guts to loving him so much, to even dare I say, looking up to him.
Over the past couple of years, since he joined the Army and passed course after course until he was selected to join the elite U.S. Special Forces as a Combat Diver, we noticed him change. He transitioned from frat boy to soldier. He was always fun loving, but he became more serious. More focused. As his sisters, it was an ego-check of sorts. We would think to ourselves, “Wait a second, he’s the younger one and we’re supposed to set the standard…to be the ones he looks up to”, but in recent years the tables had turned. We started to lean on Jimmy and treat him like our peer. We turned to him for his wise relationship advice (“he’s not good enough for you”), to his training advice (“run intervals to get faster”) and even to his business advice (“you’re doing great, keep trucking”).
Last Thanksgiving we were due to spend the holiday together in Bogota, just the three of us. We received the call Friday night, November 4th. And just like that, Jimmy was taken from our trio.
Since November 4th our hearts have been broken into a thousand pieces. Our breath has been sucked from our lungs. Our little brother, our hero, was gone.
If anything has come from the loss of our brother, it is what he taught us through his love, his leadership, his loyalty and his honor. He led by example. He taught us how to be a good friend, a good sibling, a good teammate and a good guest by showing us. He was kind to everyone he met. He made everyone feel important by asking them questions about how they were…how they really were. He showed up when he was invited. He signed a contract to fight for our country and he followed through on his commitment like he always did. He never missed a commitment. We miss him so hard, in every moment of every day.
We would also like to share our appreciation to all active duty and retired military and their families. You are our family and we are grateful for you and your service to our country. Thank you.
Strake Jesuit has set up the James F. Moriarty Endowed Scholarship to honor Jimmy’s memory. If you are interested in donating to the fund you can reach out to Colin Matheny, Director of Advancement at 713-490-8236 or cmatheny@strakejesuit.org.