Kevin Grasha

kgrasha@enquirer.com



The Navy SEAL killed Tuesday in a firefight with Islamic State militants in Iraq was a member of the Keating family that has its roots in Cincinnati.

A cousin described Charles "Charlie" Keating IV as “fearless” and “a real-life superhero.”

Keating IV, 31, an Arizona native, was an embedded adviser to Kurdish peshmerga troops. He was killed by "direct fire" after Islamic State forces penetrated the peshmerga's forward line, The Navy Times reported.

He is the grandson of the late Charles Keating Jr., who built a financial and real-estate empire before getting caught up in the 1980s savings-and-loan scandal. The Navy SEAL's great uncle, William Keating Sr., 89, was over the years a prominent local attorney and Hamilton County judge, a congressman and publisher of The Enquirer.

Charlie Keating IV was born and raised in Phoenix. His cousin, 32-year-old Liz Keating of Hyde Park, spoke to The Enquirer on Tuesday.

“He had a calling, a sense of duty, to serve his country,” she said. “He just had this sense of purpose for what he was doing. He loved what he was doing. He was a real-life superhero.”

Charlie Keating IV attended Indiana University and went directly from there to begin training in Coronado, California, to become a Navy SEAL, the elite special operations force. Less than 25 percent of people who begin the training successfully complete it, according to the Navy.

Navy SEAL Charlie Keating, Arcadia grad and grandson of Charles Keating, killed in Iraq

Keating IV, who ran cross-country and competed in track at Indiana, completed the intensive year-and-a-half training without having to stop for injury or sickness, Liz Keating said. Few people are able to do that, she said.

"He was a fearless person," she said. "He literally could do anything he wanted to do."

He graduated SEAL training in 2008.

The Keating family has several elite athletes as well as service members in its ranks. Charlie Keating IV was a combination of both.

His father, Charles Keating III, a graduate of St. Xavier High School, was an Olympic swimmer in the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal.

Keating IV's great-grandfather served in the Army in World War I. His grandfather, Charles Keating Jr., also a graduate of St. Xavier High, served as a Navy pilot in World War II and also was a champion collegiate swimmer.

His younger brother, Billy Keating, also became a Navy SEAL.

Liz Keating said Charlie was devoted to his family. Several cousins his age were his best friends.

"He was a leader everyone looked up to," she said.

Charlie Keating IV is the third American serviceman to die in combat in Iraq since the U.S.-led coalition launched its campaign against the Islamic State in the summer of 2014, according to The Navy Times.