Sgt. Thomas “Tommy” Lazzaro — a Green Beret who was killed in a hunting accident Sunday — was remembered by his family as a warrior, competitor and “the most compassionate, loving friend to anybody and everybody,” his father told Military.com in a phone interview Friday.
Lazzaro, 27, a weapons expert with 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), died after a hunter hit him with a stray round at a shooting range on Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, on Dec. 22, Task and Purpose first reported Thursday. Lazzaro was driving to the range to help another soldier who was experiencing car trouble, the publication said, citing a spokesperson.
Prior to enlisting in the Army, Lazzaro was a starting quarterback at Central Michigan University, where he helped lead the team to the Mid-American Conference Championship in 2019. He received the team’s prestigious Kurt Dobronski Award that year and earned the nickname “Touchdown Tommy” for his performance on the gridiron, his father said.
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After he graduated from CMU with a business degree in hand, Lazzaro returned to his home state of Colorado and took a job in sales. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he was unsatisfied with sitting on Zoom calls and the lack of camaraderie he experienced — and missed — on the football field.
“He just went, ‘Dad, I can’t do this,” Thomas Lazzaro III, his father and a former Army infantry officer who served with 1st Ranger Battalion, among other billets, recalled of his son. “‘I gotta be with the boys. I gotta be doing something.'”
So it was unsurprising, perhaps, when the younger Lazzaro decided to join the Army under an 18X contract — a general enlistment title for Special Forces. He passed the Special Forces Qualification Course and donned the coveted green beret as a weapons sergeant.
With several qualifications already under his belt, Lazzaro was looking forward to attending Ranger School, the Army’s competitive and highly sought-after leadership school. His father wanted to pin his Ranger tab, continuing a tradition that he himself passed in the military.
“He wanted to be a door-kicker,” his father said. “That’s who he was. He was going to be the first guy through the door.”
The elder Lazzaro recalled that drive in his son from a young age, always attempting to outdo his father in the gym, for example, or as a “tough-as-nails” competitor on the football field, where even in high school he saw success while leading his Colorado team to two state championships.
“When we took over the program, Tommy was truly our leader in so many ways,” Jim McElwain, his university coach in 2019, said in a statement from Central Michigan University. “CMU Football was blessed to have him and will always remember him for all he did for many of us. He will be missed by all of the Chippewas.”
As a Green Beret, Lazzaro deployed with his detachment to Ecuador, where he trained commandos and tier 1 police personnel, who offered a tribute to him after his passing, his father said. His father recalled how — at 6’4″ and 225 pounds — Lazzaro towered over some of the personnel and, when they attempted to jocularly throw him into a pool, it took more than two dozen of them to accomplish that task.
“This was going to be his life, and he loved it,” his father said. “He absolutely loved it.”
Lazzaro also helped organize three major detachment trainings and a 100-mile trek through the Appalachian Trail, according to a tribute posted by the Emerald Coast Funeral Home.
“We deeply mourn the loss of U.S. Army Sgt. Thomas Lazzaro of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne),” Col. Patrick Nelson, commander of 7th SFG(A), said in a statement to Task and Purpose. “We will never forget his dedication, courage and commitment to safeguarding our freedoms. His absence leaves a void that will be felt professionally and personally among those who had the honor of working with Thomas. Our heartfelt condolences extend to his family, friends and comrades during this difficult time.”
Family, friends and well-wishers will celebrate his life at a ceremony Dec. 28 in Florida. He is survived by his parents, Thomas Lazzaro III and Lisa Lazzaro; his sister Lexie; and his fiancée Kaley Lynch. Instead of flowers, the family requested donations to the Green Beret Foundation, part of a community that has “wrapped their arms around us,” his father said.
“It’s tragic, it’s sad; I don’t understand it,” he added. “But he lived life on the edge. He was full of joy and just loved life to the fullest, and was always just the life of the party, [a] consummate warrior, consummate teammate and protector of his sister and mother.”
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