North Texas Father Honors Son Lost at Sea with New Foundation for Military Families
Nathan Gage Ingram, a Navy SEAL and native of Roanoke, was lost at sea and thought to be dead while on a mission abroad one year ago this week. Gage, 27, is regarded as a national hero by the nation, but Chet Ingram, his father, views him as his little kid.
“I’m missing him. With tears in his eyes, Ingram remarked, “I’d like to see him again.”
After earning a degree in kinesiology from Texas Tech, Gage, who was up in Roanoke, says his son approached him with a new dream: becoming a Navy SEAL. “He didn’t say it with a question mark. He stated it to me. All I said was ‘okay, lets go,’” Ingram said.
On September 25, 2019, Gage joined the Navy, and on November 22, 2019, he completed boot camp. After completing Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training Class 346 in December 2021, he joined SEAL Team THREE for his first operational tour.
But on January 11, 2024, last year, Gage and Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers, another SEAL, vanished off the coast of Somalia during his first deployment. Their task was to board a ship that was shipping Iranian missile components to the Houthi insurgents in Yemen, the Navy reported. When big waves knocked Chambers off, Gage jumped in to save him. After ten days of searching, neither man was ever located.
“That’s the tough part, because I don’t get to see his kids and his future family,” Ingram complains. “That’s a tough part — and when I do get that little moment by myself — usually it ends in tears because I’m just tired.”
According to the navy’s inquiry report, which was made public in the fall, the SEALs’ fatalities may have been avoided since they were carrying excessively heavy equipment. Ingram, however, says he wants to focus on the future rather than the past, which is why he founded the Nathan Gage Ingram Foundation with the goal of assisting other military families.
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“There’s a certain acceptance of the fact that this really happened it’s gone, but it gives me an opportunity to help other people talk about Gage and his amazing life,” Ingram says.
As it happens, Gage’s own naval recruiter’s family was the first to receive assistance from the foundation. According to Ingram, the recruiter drowned the same year that Gage was on active service. Do you think that the first family the foundation assists will be Gauge’s own recruiter, given that there are approximately 330,000 active-duty sailors worldwide? All of that is God,” Ingram continued.
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Chet’s new goal is to live life to the fullest in memory of Gage. Just a few miles from his son’s memorial, Ingram took part in a ceremonial paddle in San Diego on the anniversary of his son’s passing. According to Ingram, it’s as near as he can get to hugging his “little guy” “God wanted to spend more time with him in person since he is such a good person. Therefore, you can’t be upset about that,” Ingram argues.
A measure to declare January 12 “Nathan Gage Ingram Day” in Texas has been introduced by Ben Bumgarner, the representative for District 63 in Texas. According to Ingram, the Navy is also thinking about bestowing special honors on his son.