Family and friends remember Marine Raider as brave and accomplished skydiver
NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH, NC (WWAY) — Family, friends, and colleagues of a Marine Raider who died last week are remembering him as a brave and accomplished skydiver.
40-year-old Brandon Schmidt of North Topsail Beach died last week while skydiving in Illinois.
After a mid-air collision with another jumper, he was unable to open his parachute.
Nicole, his wife of 19 years, said it has been difficult to process.
“It’s devastating, you think that you’re gonna have your person for the rest of your life, and you don’t,” Nicole said. “And then you have to tell your son. And that was the hardest part of all of this.”
During his 20 years of military service, Brandon was a member of the United States Marine Corps Special Operations Command, also known as MARSOC, a Marine Raider, and an experienced skydiver with nearly 3,000 jumps.
During his last three years in the military, Brandon helped create MARSOC’s skydiving program, and he continued skydiving for fun after leaving the service.
Nicole said she has found comfort in knowing he died doing something he loved.
“I don’t think there’s any other way to describe Brandon other than he loved to push the envelope. That’s how he wanted to go. He didn’t want to be in a nursing home, he didn’t want to live to the old, he wanted to live fast. He wanted to die doing what he loved for sure and I believe that in my heart.”
On Wednesday, Schmidt’s body was escorted by more than a dozen Patriot Guard Riders in a procession from Wilmington International Airport to the Hampstead Chapel of Wilmington Funeral and Cremation.
George Hayden is the senior assistant state captain for the North Carolina Patriot Guard Riders.
He said it was an honor escorting Brandon.
“It was very humbling,” Hayden said. “Every one that I go to is, I think is part of me, because he’s such a brother in arms, no matter what service you’re in. We’re there to escort them to their final resting place.”
Brandon’s 18-year-old son Jordan went indoor skydiving at IFly in Wilmington on Thursday to honor his father.
And Nicole said that it is the best way to celebrate the impact Brandon had on their lives.
“I think people should go skydiving. What Brandon was doing was leaps and bounds beyond your tourist version of a skydive. So go skydive. If everyone wants to honor Brandon, go do that. Go jump out of a plane, go over to the wind tunnel in Wilmington, go to I-Fly, and just feel what living life is actually about.”
Both Nicole and Jordan will go skydiving for the first time on Saturday morning in Southport and will be joined by other members of the skydiving community to honor Brandon.
A celebration of life will be held Saturday at 5 pm at the Splash by the Sea restaurant in North Topsail Beach.
