Chris Surtee's Hunting Cap Collection

[Migra Bill]

I was the lucky recipient of Chris's ball caps in the St. Judes auction. They showed up UPS today. Wow! 35 caps in all. Some are gently used, most are brand new. We had alot of the same "interests". There is a Green Bay Packers Camo cap that is awesome. I will be wearing that one at Denton Hill. There is also a half orange half camo John Deere hat, 2 University of Florida gator hats in camo. Browning hats, Winchester hats, all the stuff I love. Even a Summitt treestand hat. I have a Summitt treestand and have never seen the matching hat! It will be an honor to wear them afield.
I plan on wearing a different "Chris hat" each time I hunt this upcoming season. Each time I am lucky enough to make a harvest I will be wearing one of his hats in the photos, and I will post them up here.

Was Chris in Special Forces? I am a retired Army guy. Although I was not in SF. I worked with them on several occasions. There is a hat in here with no text but has a Black Spade with a ligtning bolt going thru it, and a star in the lower right hand corner. I cant exactly place this symbol, but I know that I have senn it before.

[GO Rogers]

It could be the U.S. Special Operations Command Emblem?♠

[jcar315]

Collection went to a top notch guy....can't wait to see the Pack hat at DH!

[Migra Bill]

No - it's not the main Sf emblem; I am very familiar with that one. I think this one might be one of the Ranger Batallions.

Thanx for the kind words John.

[Jack Guard]

Excellent auction win in my humble opinion.  

Chris was a Ranger.  

The lightning bolt and star are part of the 75th Ranger Rgt but they have another emblem, what looks like a sun or star on the upper right corner.  

This is a very general statement but the  Spade is an insignia used by the Special Forces.  The Spade has been used by many groups dating back to the OSS days and the second world war.

Ok, i know, to much info.  I would guess that the Training Batallion had special hats made up.  Just a guess.  

I bet Larry will be able to chime in.

[KentuckyTJ]

Excellent stuff Bill.

[vtmtnman]

I believe Chris was at Fort Benning,as an instructor at Ranger school...

[koger]

Great way to further honor a great guy. Having met and talked with Larry, you know where he got it.

[Larry Surtees]

I am not sure of that particular insignia/patch myself.  

Thank you all.  But here is a run down of Chris' career.  He started off his career in 1991 in the infantry.  His first duty station was with an infantry unit at Fort Drum.  He was the gunner on the aircraft in Somalia (Black Hawk Down) that went in and recovered the American bodies being paraded around the streets.

From there he went to the 82nd airborne and went to Ranger School and Airborne School.  He later went to Pathfinder School, Air Assault, and Sniper School.  From there he went to the 2nd Ranger Battalion where he was chosen for a team and became an EMT certified soldier for a special operation.   After Ranger Battalion, he went to Korea and served as the Platoon Sergeant on the DMZ.  He then had a tour as an instructor at the Ranger Training Battalion where he certified as a  Jump Master and was a member of the "Golden Nights" Auxiliary Skydiving Team.  He then went to Iraq for 2 continuous tours totalling 20 months where he was awarded 2 Bronze Stars -- one of which contained the Combat "V".  His last tour was with the Fort Benning Center of Excellence where he was an evaluator and travelled extensively conducting audits on Infantry Army Reserve Training Centers.  He was talking with assignment branch just before his death, and he was going to be transferred for a tour to Afghanistan.

I am glad that his hats found a wonderful home, and thanks for your bid and comments on how you will honor him by wearing them proudly.  Once again the tears are running down my cheeks, but they are happy tears!  THANK YOU!

[wapiti792]

[jcar315]

Larry, thank you for sharing the details regarding Chris's service.

[Gator1]

Larry,

That was quite a recap on a tremendous career.  The folks at this place are absolutely amazing.  The sacrafices our military personell are beyond what I can comprehend.

I hate to be redundant, but          

[Gen273]

WOW, What a Career!!!!          

[Longspur77]

Hero is the word that comes to mind when I think of a service man especially with a career like his.

[Shinken]

Thank you for sharin' about your son Chris, Larry!

What a tremendous example Chris was for all of us in our own lives!

Home of the free because of the brave.

God bless America!

Shoot straight, David Camp

[Ray Hammond]

"Hero is the word that comes to mind when I think of a service man especially with a career like his."

Thinking the same thing myself.

[House]

Amazing...Simply awe inspiring. Thanks so much for all the info Larry.  And thank you Bill for doing the hats this great honor.

Good work to All!

Travis

[elkken]

         

I was also fortunate enough to receive one of Chris's hats at Solana this year from Larry. It's a military ball cap with the Stars and Stripes on the front. I wear it often with pride. Thank you Larry for the recap of Chris's career. A remarkable soldier and a fine son and father.

Best wishes to the Surtees family,  Ken

[ron w]

I have a hat the was sold by Chris to Adkmountainken a year or so ago. It's a Winona knit hat that is very warm and I use it for cold weather hunts. I am moved every time I wear it just thinking about Chris and his career.  

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Ray summed it up.  "Hero"!