Dylan Revere, Air Force veteran and Kings Park native, dies at 34

Dylan Revere was all about protecting people, whether it was his comrades in battle in Iraq and Afghanistan or in the elite security force for former President Barack Obama.

Revere, who served eight years of active duty, including as security for Air Force One, died Monday at his home in Queens, his family said. He was 34.

His father, Christopher Revere, said an autopsy was inconclusive. 

“He had Yankee White clearance,” said Christopher Revere, of Kings Park. “You need to have that kind of clearance to work with the president. He was picked for the presidential detail, three out of 450 candidates, at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. We were so incredibly proud.”

Dylan Revere, who joined the U.S. Air Force Security Forces in December 2008, served three tours overseas, two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, each lasting seven to nine months.

“He was deployed for his first tour of Iraq but volunteered for the next two tours,” his father said. “He was all about protecting his country. And he wanted to be there for his fellow soldiers.”

Revere was cited numerous times for saving lives and going above and beyond the call of duty in the field. His awards included the Meritorious Unit Award with one oak leaf cluster, an Afghanistan Campaign Medal with one service star, the Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with Gold Border with one oak leaf cluster and five NATO Medals for International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

“He has numerous medals, and they really meant nothing to him because he felt he was there to do a job,” his father said. “Dylan was never a guy who needed or wanted recognition. My son was fierce and loyal to what he felt was the right thing to do. He was so tough but had such a soft heart.”

Revere was born at the former St. Catherine's Episcopal Hospital in Smithtown on June 2, 1990. He graduated in 2008 from Kings Park High School, where he was a member of the basketball team that won the Long Island Class A championship in 2007.

At 6-foot-1 and a chiseled 225 pounds, he was an avid bodybuilder. He joined the service soon after graduation and spent the next eight years of his life devoted to the job.

His mother, Kimberly Revere, said the horrible things her son saw while serving, including the deaths of friends, left him with PTSD.

She said he left the service in 2016 and worked various jobs before joining as a steamfitter apprentice with Local 638 in 2018.

He and Frances Contreras were married on Aug. 17.

“The last three months of his life seemed to be his happiest, making his death even more of a blow to his family and friends,” his mother said. “He spent his honeymoon in Greece and Spain, visiting all the churches in Greece and basilicas in Spain.”

“He was so brave,” Christopher Revere said, telling a story of how as a passerby his son recently pulled a woman away from a burning car before it exploded in flames in Queens. “That was Dylan."

In addition to his wife and parents, Dylan Revere is survived by his stepson, Corbin; his brother, Christopher Revere Jr., of West Palm Beach, Florida; and sisters Monica Revere, of White Plains, and Gabrielle Revere. 

A funeral Mass will be held Monday at 11:30 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Church, 59 Church St., Kings Park.

By Gregg Sarra

gregg.sarra@newsday.com@Gregg_Sarra

Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.