Reporter's Notebook: Remembering legendary SEAL Commander Richard Marcinko after his death

Demo Dick will be remembered for his contributions to the SEAL community.

With the death of Richard Marcinko, also known as Demo Dick, or the Rogue Warrior, the Navy SEAL community on Christmas lost one of its most controversial, yet colorful, personalities.

Adm. William H. McRaven, who had reached loggerheads with Marcinko in the past, remembered him as an officer "with ingenuity and an unrelenting drive for success," whom he hoped would "be remembered for his numerous contributions to the SEAL community."

During the Vietnam War, Marcinko led SEAL platoons from SEAL Team Two into the Mekong Delta. He returned from their first mission, Operation Winchester, completely out of ammunition. He set the tone and the expectations for his fellow SEALS: Be relentless, make the enemy fear you, carry out the missions with violence of action.

Marcinko elevated the performance of those he led. He made the SEALs -- or as their enemies called them, the "green faces" -- feared and respected.