When Navy Corpsman Maxton (Max) Soviak was killed by a suicide bomber while helping evacuees in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 26, 2021, he left a legacy of passion for life and service that lives on today. day in the Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak Memorial Foundation. The foundation was established by Max’s parents, Kip and Rachel Soviak, to honor his son and continue the benevolence that defined Max’s life.
This year, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) honors Max’s legacy by naming the annual Max Rimfire Sporter Match the Soviak National CMP Rimfire Sporter Match. The event will kick off with a CMP Rimfire Clinic on July 7 and the Match will take place on July 8. CMP staff have always wanted to find a way to honor Max, who spent countless hours as a young man at Camp Perry.
“When CMP staff learned that Max had been murdered, we were heartbroken,” said CMP Head of Programs Christie Sewell. “When we first heard about it, we wanted to make a memorial for him, but there were so many people doing things, so we waited.”
Max touched many people in his life.
“He was well-liked by his teammates and his family,” Kip said. “He had an infectious smile and loved to get into mischief. If he ever got into trouble, he could talk his way out of anything.”
After graduating from Edison High School in Milan, Ohio in 2017, Max joined the Army with dreams of becoming a medic. After medical training, he served in a Guam hospital for two years. While there, Max’s adventurous spirit inspired him to help form a biddy wrestling program and participate in diving, diving, CrossFit, wrestling, and jujitsu.
Max’s dream of becoming a member of the Greenside Medical Corps with the Marines led him to Camp Pendleton for training and upon graduation he was posted with the 2/1 Marine Battalion to Jordan. While there, Max’s battalion was sent to help evacuees trying to escape the Taliban in Kabul.
“Everything was happening in Afghanistan and they were trying to get people out,” Kip said. “Theirs was the closest military unit to help, so they were thrown on a plane and sent to Kabul.”
Max spent eight days working at the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, helping to save lives. In the end, he gave his.
“On August 26, a suicide bomber slithered in there and detonated,” Kip said.
Max was among the 13 service members killed. He was 22 years old.
Back in Ohio, friends and strangers began sending money to the Soviak family to honor the fallen hero. Those donations were used to create the Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak Memorial Foundationthat provides adventures, experiences and resources to veterans and their families so they can “Live life to the max!”
“Rachel and I thought, ‘What do we do with all this money?’” Kip said. “After seeing the children who returned from Kabul, they all seemed to need some kind of help. What they saw was horrible. We established a foundation to help veterans with whatever they might need.”
The foundation honors Max’s life and reflects his adventurous personality by helping veterans enjoy life in every way possible.
“We didn’t want to get attached to just one thing. Max was always changing his mind about what he wanted to do with his career and after his career, and we followed that thought process,” Kip said.
The foundation has provided veterans with service dogs and emotional support dogs, sent a veteran and his wife on a NASCAR trip and helped a family of veterans who needed adaptive services to visit Disney World.
Members of the Soviak family will return to Camp Perry to participate in the Max Soviak National CMP Rimfire Sporter Match in July.
“Immediately after Max passed away, his father reached out to us and wanted us to know that CMP had a very positive impact on his son and his family,” Sewell said.
The match will begin when a member of the Soviak family fires the Camp Perry National Matches cannon on July 8 at 7:45 a.m. After the shot, a brick will be revealed reading “HM3 Max Soviak, CMP Competitor, Friend & Hero” . at Shooter’s Memorial Plaza by the main flagpole.
Competitors will receive event t-shirts with an image of Max and the foundation’s motto, “Live life to the max.”
Raffle tickets for a Savage Mark II-FVT rifle donated by Savage can be purchased for 1 for $5 or 6 for $20. Proceeds from the raffle go to the Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak Memorial Foundation.
“The rimfire jock match has a kind of carnival atmosphere. It’s one of our favorite matches,” Sewell said. “It will just be a fun day where we remember Max and celebrate his life. We are excited about it. They are such a sweet and kind family, and they are doing so much for Max.”
The Max Soviak National CMP Rimfire Sporter Match offers competitors a recreation-oriented competition using the .22 small-caliber sporter rifles (small game and plinking rifles) that are the common property of nearly every gun enthusiast. This is a unique match where all you need to compete is a rifle and ammo. Contestants must shoot with standard sporter-type rimfire rifles weighing no more than 7 ½ pounds. More information can be found at https://thecmp.org/cmp-matches/national-rimfire-sporter-rifle-match/ or call 419-635-2141 for more details.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to firearms safety and marksmanship training and the promotion of marksmanship competition for United States citizens. To learn more about the CMP and its programs, log on to www.TheCMP.org.