Grandfather, called back to active duty, relies on faith
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A UMNS photo by Jan Snider Danny McDaniel chases his 3-year-old grandson, Gabriel Barber.
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Danny
McDaniel chases after his 3-year-old grandson, Gabriel Barber.
McDaniel, a retired army colonel, is being recalled to active duty and
will be deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and other overseas locations to
develop systems to provide a healthy food supply to these nations. A
member of Oak Grove United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, Miss.,
McDaniel is a veterinarian with his own practice and has combat
experience from a tour of duty in Vietnam. McDaniel says this is an
opportunity to live his faith and to “be the kind of example that I
think God wants me to be.” A UMNS photo by Jan Snider. Photo #06-494.
Accompanies UMNS story #282. 5/11/06 |
May 11, 2006
A UMNS Feature
By Jan Snider*
His 3-year-old grandson peddles the tricycle as quickly as little legs will
allow while 58-year-old Danny McDaniel answers the child’s taunt to catch him if
he can.
Days like this have filled the past two years of the retired soldier’s life.
All that has changed, though, since he was ordered two weeks ago to report to
Fort Bragg, N.C., to await further assignment.
Grandpa is going to war.
Uniforms weighed down with an assortment of medals have been culled from the
back of the closet. As the dry-cleaning bags hit the garbage, “Pa-Pa” is
transformed from tricycle-pursuer into warrior and officer Col. Danny McDaniel.
“One of the things that brought me into this recall was they were looking for
a medical type, specifically a veterinarian who had been in combat,” he says.
McDaniel is a vet — and a vet. He is a seasoned soldier who saw active combat in
Vietnam in his early 20s, and upon returning to the states earned his degree in
veterinary medicine.
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A UMNS photo by Jan Snider Up a tree, Riley Barber, 5, looks to her grandpa, Danny McDaniel, to keep her safe.
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Up
a tree, Riley Barber, 5, looks to her grandpa, Danny McDaniel, to keep
her safe. McDaniel, a retired Army colonel, is being recalled to active
duty and will be deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and other overseas
locations to develop systems to provide a healthy food supply to these
nations. A member of Oak Grove United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg,
Miss., McDaniel is a veterinarian with his own practice and has combat
experience from his tour of duty in Vietnam. McDaniel says this is an
opportunity to live his faith and to “be the kind of example that I
think God wants me to be.” A UMNS photo by Jan Snider. Photo #06-495.
Accompanies UMNS story #282. 5/11/06 |
After running his own veterinary practice in Jackson, Miss., for a few years,
he chose to return to the Army and put to use his leadership skills running
medical and educational programs for the Army Reserve. When he retired, he
stepped down as commandant of the Regional Counterdrug Training Academy in
Meridian, Miss., one of five academies that train federal and local law
enforcement for anti-drug and counterterrorism operations.
Living next door to two of his four young grandchildren, McDaniel had
immersed himself in their lives, volunteered at Oak Grove United Methodist
Church and at the local animal shelter. This year, he is a Junior ROTC
instructor and assistant soccer coach at Quitman High School in Quitman, Miss.
McDaniel believes his reactivation is happening for a reason, and that the
Lord is behind it. He says he is drawing on his faith as a Christian to meet
this new challenge.
Reactivation
The recall to service doesn’t surprise McDaniel. “I could fight this. I mean,
I could go and say that my knee hurts. I’ve had back surgery and could probably
get out of it. But I am just not that kind of person. Legally, until I’m 60
years old, I am still a deployable asset.
“I raised my right hand 30-something years ago and agreed to defend the
country and do whatever they felt like I needed to do, and I feel honor-bound to
that obligation.”
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A UMNS photo by Jan Snider Gabriel (left) and Riley play with their grandfather, Danny McDaniel, before he deploys overseas.
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Gabriel
(left) and Riley play with their grandfather, Danny McDaniel, who lives
next door to the family. McDaniel, a retired Army colonel, is being
recalled to active duty and will be deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and
other overseas locations to develop systems to provide a healthy food
supply to these nations. A member of Oak Grove United Methodist Church
in Hattiesburg, Miss., McDaniel is a veterinarian with his own practice
and has combat experience from his tour of duty in Vietnam. McDaniel
says this is an opportunity to live his faith and to “be the kind of
example that I think God wants me to be.” A UMNS photo by Jan Snider.
Photo #06-496. Accompanies UMNS story #282. 5/11/06 |
By going, he says, he can keep another person from having to return for a
third or fourth tour.
With a grin, McDaniel admits he is excited about the assignment, which will
place him in Iraq, then Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa, where terrorism is
gaining a foothold. As a member of the 352nd Civil Affairs Battalion, he will be
involved in nation-building projects.
McDaniel will use his skills as a medical and veterinary officer to further
public health in the region. He says that food safety, nutritional and
agriculture programs have suffered under past regimes. “Consequently, they do
not produce enough goods for their people,” he says.
Focus will be on helping communities build municipal and agricultural
infrastructures, some of which will be modeled after successful U.S. Department
of Agriculture programs. Goals will include eradicating livestock disease and
modernizing farming practices.
It’s a leadership position he feels called to fill. “My mother told me that
God may have given you something to perform once in your entire life, just one
time, just one thing,” McDaniel says.
“I honestly believe that the Lord is making all this happen. I believe that
he has something he wants me to do.”
What the family thinks
While he is looking forward to the challenge, McDaniel’s soft-spoken wife,
Linda, steels herself against the risk.
She fights back tears as she says, “I try not to think about it.” When her
husband told her that he might be called out of retirement, Linda says she got
angry at first.
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A UMNS photo by Jan Snider Before his deployment, Danny McDaniel enjoys quiet time with his wife, Linda, at home. Dogs Jake and Elwood keep them company.
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Danny
McDaniel enjoys some quiet time with his wife, Linda on the porch of
their home in Hattiesburg, Miss. Dogs Jake and Elwood keep them company.
McDaniel, a retired Army colonel, is being recalled to active duty and
will be deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and other overseas locations to
develop systems to provide a healthy food supply to these nations. A
member of Oak Grove United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, McDaniel is a
veterinarian with his own practice and has combat experience from his
tour of duty in Vietnam. McDaniel says this is an opportunity to live
his faith and to “be the kind of example that I think God wants me to
be.” A UMNS photo by Jan Snider. Photo #06-497. Accompanies UMNS story
#282. 5/11/06 |
“I said, ?It’s not fair, you’ve done your time, you’ve served in Vietnam.’
But I live with him every day and it’s a duty, an honor thing with him, and it
comes through very strongly.” She has resolved to manage the situation
day-to-day and, instead of approaching it with trepidation, to reflect on the
pride she has for him instead.
McDaniel’s daughter, Hagan Barber, lives next door with her husband, Chris,
and their two children, Riley, 5 and Gabriel, 3. She has watched while her dad
stepped in to baby-sit on a regular basis including taking care of “baby food
and dirty diapers,” she says.
Though proud of him, she says a 58-year-old soldier being called out of
retirement is a bit over the top. “In a day where we don’t use the draft and
your dad — who’s finally come home and is retired — is being called off
somewhere? It’s really shocking.”
McDaniel’s brother, Terrell, is most against the recall. He remembers being
just 10 when Danny served during the Vietnam War in an elite branch of the Army
as a Ranger.
“Those were very emotional times, wondering whether or not he was going to
come home and watching my mother worry,” says Terrell of Hendersonville, Tenn.
“This recall brings back all that concern for my mom and the family.”
McDaniel acknowledges the unease that he, too, feels about how his
redeployment will affect his 83-year-old mother, Sue. During the Vietnam War,
she lost contact with him for several months when he was in combat.
“It was a tough time for her, really tough,” McDaniel says, “and, when I sat
down with her and told her that this was happening, at first she said the same
thing that a lot of people said: ?They can’t do that, that’s not fair.’ And so I
explained to her that it was my choice.”
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A UMNS photo by Jan Snider Danny McDaniel prepares his army uniform before he deploys overseas.
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Danny
McDaniel prepares his army uniform before he deploys overseas.
McDaniel, a retired army colonel, is being recalled to active duty and
will be deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and other oversees locations to
develop systems to provide a healthy food supply to these nations. A
member of Oak Grove United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, Miss.,
McDaniel is a veterinarian with his own practice and has combat
experience from his tour of duty in Vietnam. McDaniel says this is an
opportunity to live his faith and to “be the kind of example that I
think God wants me to be.” A UMNS photo by Jan Snider. Photo #06-498.
Accompanies UMNS story #282.
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Terrell hasn’t changed his mind, “He will be in a commanding role, and they
need him there and they’re lucky to have him. I’m grateful for his willingness
to give of himself that way ? but it just seems absurd. It certainly creates a
lot of tension to have so great a love and so much admiration for him, and yet
just be so sick about it.”
What friends think
The Young At Heart Sunday School class at Hattiesburg’s Oak Grove United
Methodist Church has an empty chair where McDaniel usually sits.
The class consists of a couple of retired military and several other members
who believe complying with the reactivation is the patriotic thing to do. With
the Army’s Camp Shelby only minutes away, classmates say they are comfortable
with the idea of active service and the accompanying risk.
Before leaving, McDaniel tells the group of the sites he dreams of visiting,
including the Euphrates and Tigris River Valleys. He assures them he will send
souvenirs. “I’ll send you a hunk of wood out of the Tigris River Valley. I
don’t intend to walk out of here and you never hear from me again.” He adds that
they will regularly hear from him by e-mail.
In the meantime, his students at Quitman High School have prepared going-away
gifts and exchanged e-mail addresses with him. He says he intends to continue
encouraging them while he’s stationed halfway around the world.
Daily prayer for help
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A UMNS photo courtesy of Danny McDaniel As a young soldier in 1969, Danny McDaniel saw combat in Vietnam.
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As
a young soldier in 1969, Danny McDaniel saw combat during a tour of
duty in Vietnam. McDaniel, a retired Army colonel, is being recalled to
active duty and will be deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and other overseas
locations to develop systems to provide a healthy food supply to these
nations., A member of Oak Grove United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg,
Miss., McDaniel says this is an opportunity to live his faith and to “be
the kind of example that I think God wants me to be.” A UMNS photo
courtesy of Danny McDaniel. Photo #06-499. Accompanies UMNS story #282.
5/11/06 |
McDaniel says this is an opportunity to live his faith. “I have always relied
on my beliefs as a Christian to give me strength to be the kind of example that
I think God wants me to be.”
Young soldiers have often turned to him for advice. “You take young people
and put them in a stressful situation, they are going to look to their leaders
to see how the leaders are reacting, and I have always been a commander who
wanted my troops to see that I am doing whatever they are doing. I am sharing
the danger, the work and the hardships because that is the way it is supposed to
be.”
Prayer has strengthened his resolve to carry out his new assignment. “I pray
every day, and basically my prayer is, ?I realize this is what you want me to
do. Help me do a good job.
“I learned in Vietnam not to pray, ?Don’t let me die’ — that’s asking too
much,” he says. “So I learned to say in my prayers every day, ?Don’t let me let
my buddies down; let me do my job. If I gotta go, let me go with honor.”
McDaniel is expected to deploy to Iraq within the week.
*Snider is a multimedia producer for United Methodist News Service. She is
married to Terrell McDaniel; Danny McDaniel is her brother-in-law.
News media contact: Jan Snider, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5474 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Resources
Theme page: Military
Regional Counterdrug Training Academy
352nd Civil Affairs Battalion
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Quitman High School, Quitman, Miss.
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