ST. PETERS, Mo. – There’s a limited edition, barrel pick bourbon honoring St. Louis area Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, who was killed during the Aug. 26, 2021, U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He was 20 years old.
It’s called Devil Dog, inspired by the Marine Corps’ historic nickname. The label features Lance Cpl. Schmitz. The bottles are now on sale only at the Beer Sauce shop in St. Peters. All proceeds will go toward doing something incredibly special for our veterans.
Bourbon fan “Smokey” Scott Sheeley sipped a sample Tuesday.
“I’m picking up some oak, picking up some caramel. Smells like it’s got a little bit of heat, not much. I like it,” he said.
Jared Schmitz’s father welcomes the review. The process of selecting, bottling, and now selling the bourbon has taken about six months.
“This young man has made me so proud throughout his very brief life. To do something like this to honor him warms my heart,” Mark Schmitz said.
His son died in the suicide bombing at the Kabul Airport nearly two years ago.
Art of the Spirits distillery in Colorado Springs, Colorado, produced the 282 bottles of the 105 proof “Devil Dog,” aged for 7 years, 6 months. The price is $199 per bottle. Each bottle is numbered.
“It’s kind of a neat thing to know you’ve got one of 282 bottles,” Schmitz said.
The money raised will go to The Freedom 13 charity, founded by Mark Schmitz and named for the 13 U.S. service members killed in that bombing. The charity’s mission is to build a retreat village for veterans in every state, each with 13 homes and offering kayaking, swimming, fishing, and hiking to veterans and their families, free of charge.
The first village is planned for Missouri. Mark Schmitz had returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., with members of nine of The Freedom 13 families. They met with congressional leadership, advocating for veterans and the legacy of the loved ones lost during that botched pullout from Afghanistan.
“We’re not going to go away,” Schmitz said. “We’re just never going to stop until we get some answers and people start taking some accountability for what happened. Obviously, nobody’s going to be able to undo what’s been done, but there’s so many guys young guys and women in the military right now who are scared to death under the current leadership. We want to make sure this never happens again. I want people to remember any hero they would like when they’re drinking this (bourbon). It’s not just about my son. It’s about all of them.”
Fewer than 250 of the 282 remained as of Tuesday night.