“If not me, then who?”
The legacy of Jimmy Regan

Deciding between the opportunity for substantial personal enrichment and putting your life at risk in a foreign country, the choice would be obvious for most people. The choice is especially obvious when you are a young man with a full ride to SMU’s law school, and a job offer from a prominent financial services company. Few people would turn down just one of those options after graduating from four years of college, let alone turn down both of them. But that is exactly what Jimmy Regan did.
Jimmy Regan was star athlete from Long Island, New York, whose high school coaches said had the ability and athleticism to take over a lacrosse game. Jimmy’s talent and intelligence took him to Duke University, a top school for both lacrosse and economics, in which he earned a degree after the spring of 2002. Regan had 22 goals and four assists in his career at Duke, as well as being an instrumental part of the teams that won two ACC titles and made four NCAA tournament runs. Jimmy was named to the 2002 all-ACC tournament team after his signature performance, a game where he had four goals and one assist en route to an ACC title victory over the top-ranked Virginia Cavalier. However, Jimmy’s goal was never to pad his stats.
Jimmy’s coaches and teammates had the highest praise for his character. Described as someone who always had a smile on his face, his teammates always enjoyed being around him. Jimmy had a joyful personality and was beloved by those who knew him. With the option of accepting a job offer from a lucrative Wall Street firm, or going to SMU on a full ride to law school, Jimmy had a promising career ahead of him in whatever direction he chose. Then, what some people call the hero’s call to action came.

Jimmy Regan shocked his teammates, friends, and family when he decided to enlist in the army. “This is what I have to do”, he said in an email. Jimmy’s call to action had come. Many assumed he would go straight to officer training and probably would not see field combat. He surprised everyone yet again when he enlisted in the Army Rangers, the soldiers who often are on the front line. Regan excelled in training and graduated first in his class from basic training. He completed Ranger training at Fort Benning in Georgia, then joined the United States Army 3rd Battalion.
Regan was deployed in Iraq as a part Operation Iraqi Freedom. Jimmy also served two tours in Afghanistan in support for Operation Enduring Freedom. Regan was a machine gunner, a gun team leader, and a fire team leader before being promoted to a Sergeant. He was expected to return in February of 2008, and move to Chicago with his fiancé. While serving in Iraq, Regan was tragically killed at age 26 by an IED explosion in February of 2007.
Jimmy’s funeral was held in Manhasset, New York, and he was buried in Arlington National Cemetary with full military honors. Regan was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, a Purple Heart, and the Meritorious Service Medal to go along with his many awards and badges he earned as a soldier.
Some wonder what made Regan decide to enlist rather than start his career. According to the New York Times, his high school lacrosse coach speculates that, even though Regan was in the middle of his senior year at Duke when the tragedy of 9/11 happened, the funerals all over his home town of Manhasset made him answer the call to action. He certainly did not have to go anywhere near the army. This is where the hero’s journey lies in Regan’s story: a hero recieves the call to action and courageously answers it with his service. In this case, the hero makes the ultimate sacrifice.

The character and courage of Regan can be summed up in the mantra of “If not me, then who?”, the same words he wrote in his email to friends and family. This phrase capitulates the ultimate sacrifice of Jimmy and all members of the armed forces. The character of someone to willingly leave behind friends, family, and turn their back on Wall Street is the character of someone of the highest degree. The Duke men’s lacrosse team honors Jimmy Regan every game they play by wearing a blue sticker on their helmets with his initials and the number 10. His jersey is framed in the locker room in Durham, an everyday reminder to the men of Duke lacrosse what they should strive to be. The legacy of Jimmy Regan is one of kindness, courage, character, and service to something greater than one’s self.

