Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Tate was assigned to the USS Iwo Jima, and deployed as an Individual Augmentee to Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan. He died of pneumonia at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. Darren graduated from Canyon High School in 2006. In August 2006, he enlisted in the Navy and was assigned to the USS Iwo Jima LH7, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship. He left the ship in August 2008 for a temporary assignment to begin training for Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan to help train locals in farming and other areas. Another sailor was assigned the duty, but Darren accepted it instead because his friend's wife was experiencing complications from pregnancy and Darren told him he would take his place. That was the kind of man Darren was – always putting the needs of others before his own. When a friend couldn't afford shoes – Darren used the last of his money to buy the man a pair. He persuaded his mother to mail about a dozen boxes of clothes to him in Afghanistan so he could distribute them to farmers he had befriended. When a boat capsized off the Carolina coast last year – Darren was the one who was dropped from a Navy helicopter to rescue the stranded boaters. When his pregnant sister couldn't afford bedding for her child – Darren said he'd cover the cost. Whatever he could do for you, he would do it. He enjoyed bodybuilding, studied cooking, taekwondo, had almost completed requirements for a pilot's license and hoped one day to become a pediatrician. He contracted a lung infection that didn't respond to antibiotics so the military was in the process of sending him to Germany when he died. Darren was excited about completing his military tour in the fall. On his personal webpage he wrote: "so great news to those that care I might be coming home sooner than expected im talking like beginning of September hell yeah.