US Soldier Weston Lee’s Fraternity Brothers Set Up Fundraising Page To Create Scholarship In His Name

A University of North Georgia fraternity set up a Go Fund Me page to raise money for a scholarship in the name of its former member and U.S. soldier 1st Lt. Weston Lee, who was killed last month in Iraq. The Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s Georgia Delta Chapter is seeking to raise $100,000 for the scholarship.

Lee, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, died April 29 while conducting security as part of advise-and-assist support for partnered forces when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in Mosul, according to the Department of Defense. This was the Georgia native’s first deployment since joining the Army in 2015.

The 25-year-old was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 325th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was deployed to Iraq as a part of Operation Inherent Resolve, in the anti-Islamic State group (ISIS) fight that comprises of coalition countries working with partners in Iraq and Syria.

Following his death, Colin Marney, Lee’s friend and a fraternity brother decided to start the fundraising page. At the time of publication, the page had raised $55,700 in funds.

“The idea was spontaneous, and was conceived in a conversation with fellow fraternity brothers on how best to honor Weston's legacy. We want to make a competitive scholarship to reward young men and women who show the same charismatic leadership that Weston did,” Marney told International Business Times, in an email. “We intend for the pool of candidates to be contracted cadets at UNG [University of North Georgia].”

The initial goal was to raise $25,000 in funds for the scholarship and pay Lee’s family for his funeral expenses. However, the target was met within a few days of setting up the page. This led to Marney and the fraternity brothers to increase the goal to $100,000.

“We are increasing the goal so we can make the scholarship more valuable, as well as more sustainable. We still plan to help out the family if they need anything, financially. At this point, however, we do not expect them to need much from us because of the multitude of charities and fundraisers which have been done for their benefit. Our primary focus is the scholarship,” Marney told IBT.

The fraternity brothers also plan to raise funds by selling KIA (killed in action) bracelets and memorial t-shirts.

“The bracelets and shirts will be used to supplement our fundraising efforts. We are working out the logistics behind the KIA bracelets, because we currently lack the ability to easily ship individual orders,” Marney said. “The shirts are mostly being done in cooperation with other groups, but we do not have any designs available yet.”

Lee was one of more than 1,800 soldiers from the 2nd Brigade deployed in Iraq to assist the warn-torn country's fight against ISIS. Since the Mosul offensive began six months, two U.S. military members — including Lee — have died. In October, 34-year-old Navy Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan was also killed in an IED explosion near Mosul.

Furthermore, Lee's death was the third U.S. casualty in the last week of April in the global fight against ISIS. On April 27, two Army Rangers died in an operation against an ISIS affiliate in Nangarhar province in Afghanistan.