Never Forget Francis L. Toner IV

"LTJG Toner - Running 75 yards or so behind in full IBA (he was training to become a SEAL) , LTJG Toner heroically sacrificed his life attempting to save LT Choe and CDR Lebel. He was also gunned down while charging the attacker to prevent a second volley at point blank range which eventually took LT Choe's life. His actions likely distracted the attacker and saved the CDR's life. He was due home on leave the very next week..." - John Miller -

Frankie had dropped back in his run to motivate his buddy Carlos, who was new at wearing his IBA that day. This is an account of a fellow Kings Pointer who was Frankie's roommate and friend during his time in Afghanistan-

"Frank Toner, a 06 grad and one other female navy LT were shot and killed by an ANA soldier who was also apparently an insurgent. Frank and I lived in the same hut and he worked at the desk next to mine. There were two others, a LTjg friend of mine and a CDR who were also involved. The CDR was wounded and will be okay, and the jg will be okay, just shaken up. We were a running group and I was running well ahead of them this time. The shooting happened behind me after I ran past, maybe 4 or 5 minutes after I was at the site. Everyone here is real shook up right now. About a dozen of the Navy garrison escorted the remains back to Bagram and had a ceremony for them. There are a lot of people on the way here to my camp for the service. The one the Germans gave yesterday morning prior to loading them on the aircraft was very nice. The had what seemed to be almost all the base lining the road for probably a mile, all holding torches and saluting, while the caskets were driven past with the Navy marching behind. Bagram was a little overwhelming, there are like 20K people there. Everyone here liked him, he never spoke bad about anyone, and LT Choe, the other victim was the same, a good person. She was doing a lot with the MWR program here. Anyway, tell the school Frank went down trying to get to the shooter. He was a hero and everyone here is still trying to accept what happened. His actions probably saved my friend's life. He was the last runner in our group, also wearing his armor, and it slowed him down as the stuffweighs so much, so he was in the rear. The news sources are getting a lot of details wrong, but as the investigation is going on, I don't want to say or speculate too much. Just the other day we joked about building something here with the KPS hidden in it." Matt Hume


There really are no words. I told him not to be a hero....but I knew he would never be anything less.