BANGKOK — A former member of the Thai navy’s elite SEAL unit who volunteered to help his old comrades in their risky mission to evacuate a dozen boys and their soccer coach trapped in a cave has become the first casualty of the massive rescue effort. The death of former Petty Officer 1st Class Saman Gunan early Friday morning during an underwater swim in the partly flooded cave struck a particularly deep chord with Thais, because he was a volunteer on a humanitarian mission that has riveted the nation’s attention for two weeks. And as is the case with elite military units all over the world, Thailand’s SEALs were quick to pay their own heartfelt tribute to their fallen friend. “See you in Chiang Rai,” was the can-do salutation in a memorial message from other retired SEALs that was forwarded to their buddies in active service at the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in northern Thailand. “The determination and dedication of Saman will always be in all of our frogmen hearts. Today Saman rests. We will complete this mission, just as Saman intended,” they vowed, signing off with a battle cheer adopted from the U.S. Navy: “Hooyah Hooyah Hooyah.” The statement said that Saman was a member of their 30th class who resigned to work as a security officer at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport since 2006. “He is a SEAL member who had knowledge, skill, was an athletic triathlon, and enjoyed adventure sports,” it said. “Even when he left the department, he still loved and bonded with his SEAL team brothers, no matter what activity the SEAL team held, Saman would always participate in activities, right until his last minute.” “Saman left us while working with his SEAL team brothers at a time where all frogmen put their arms around each other and move forward to complete the mission that is set.” Navy SEAL commander Rear Adm. Arpakorn Yookongkaew separately explained the ethic driving the SEALs’ mission and why Saman’s death would not deter them from their course. “We have been trained to always be dealing with risks,” he said. “Therefore, whether it’s sickness or death, they are things that we are always facing because that’s how we’re trained. I want to confirm that we have never lost morale, and are still in high spirits. We will not let our fallen brother die in vain.” Arpakorn told reporters Saman’s role was to place oxygen canisters on the route within the cave the active SEALs are using to reach the trapped boys. “When Saman placed the canisters he was on his way back and while he was returning he had lost consciousness. His buddy partner tried to give him first aid but when those efforts did not succeed he was brought back to chamber three,” referring to part of the cave that has become a staging area for the operation. “And when he reached chamber three, we tried to care for him some more but he lost consciousness and never regained it so we sent him to the hospital,” said Arpakorn. Saman was 38 and is survived by his wife, his colleagues said. He also left behind a selfie video taken on June 30, just before boarding the navy plane that took him north for his final mission. “Loaded all my stuff on to the plane. I’m ready to fly to Chiang Rai,” he says, while also noting who else was on the flight. “See you at Tham Luang in Chiang Rai,” says Saman. “May good luck be on our side to bring the boys back home.” READ MORE: 3 ways rescuers could free youth soccer team from Thailand cave<doc-sep>There were conflicting reports following the rescue about the extent to which the boys had been medicated before they were brought out. The Thai prime minister on Tuesday denied reports that they had been sedated, saying the boys were given only light anti-anxiety medication commonly provided to soldiers.<doc-sep>Following the successful rescue of 12 young soccer players and their coach trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand, the country’s Navy SEALs will now implement cave-diving into its training regimen to be better prepared for unforeseen emergencies. “SEALs need cave-diving training,” said Navy SEAL Commander Rear Adm. Apakorn Yukongkaew when asked to name post-mission priorities for his SEAL unit, according to local paper the Bangkok Post. When the mission to extract 13 members of the Wild Boars soccer team from Tham Luang cave began, “many simply did not know what to do,” said Lt Cdr Khai Tochaiphum, a former SEAL instructor, adding that none had cave-diving experience. They were helped by expert cave divers from all over the world. Nicknamed the SEALs, 127 present and former members of Thailand’s Underwater Demolition Assault Unit took part in a colossal international effort to rescue the team members who were trapped in the cave for over 17 days. Rescuers faced daunting challenges, from decreasing oxygen levels and fears of further flooding. The SEALs also dealt with tragedy when former Navy SEAL Samarn Kunan died while distributing oxygen tanks throughout the flooded tunnels. His death underscored the dangers of the mission. On Wednesday, Apakorn met with experts from Elon Musk’s SpaceX team who had donated a mini-submarine for the rescue effort. The equipment was rejected for the mission but the Navy believes it could be useful for future efforts, according to the Post. The young boys of the Wild Boars soccer team, all between the ages of 11 and 16, and their 25-year-old coach Ekkapol Chantawong became trapped inside the Tham Luang cave on June 23, when sudden rains flooded their exit. Aided by at least seven foreign governments, over 1,000 people undertook a monumental search effort that ended in elation late Monday when a pair of British divers found all 13 alive and in stable health. The boys are currently recuperating in a hospital in Chiang Rai province. Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later. Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder. Contact us at letters@time.com.<doc-sep>
The first four boys have been rescued from the cave in Thailand where their soccer team has been trapped for two weeks. The Thai Navy SEALs, who are leading the rescue mission with divers and help from other countries, are posting encouraging messages on their Facebook page. A photo the Thai Navy SEALs posted shows three rescue workers grabbing each other by the arms in a show of unity. The first four boys who have been stuck in a cave in Thailand for two weeks were heroically rescued on Sunday. Before, during, and after the rescue, the Thai Navy SEALs leading the rescue mission kept people updated by posting encouraging messages on their Facebook page. Right before the rescue mission started, the Navy SEALs posted a picture on their Facebook page of three people grabbing each other by the arms. According to the AP, the caption on the photo refers to the name of the boys' soccer team and says "We, the Thai team and the international team, will bring the Wild Boars home." On Sunday night, the Navy SEALS confirmed on their Facebook page that four of the children had been rescued. They posted that "the 4th Wild Boar is out of the cave" and was rescued at 7:47 p.m. local time. A previous post from a few minutes earlier noted that the 3rd boy had been rescued. A post following the rescue of the first four boys combined Thai and English. According to the AP's translation, the post begins by saying "Have sweet dreams everyone. Good night," in Thai. That Thai is followed by, in English, "Hooyah," a morale-boosting word used by the US Navy. According to the Guardian, the mission includes 40 Thai divers and 50 international divers with teams from Australia, the US, the UK, and China aiding in the efforts. A former Thai Navy SEAL died on Friday while placing oxygen tanks in the cave in preparation for the rescue. Officials said the operation would return on Monday to begin rescuing the eight other boys of the Wild Boars soccer team and their 25-year-old coach. Rescuing all 13 members of the soccer team could take days to complete, depending on the rainfall.