PFC Juctin R.P. McDaniel, 19, of Andover, New Hampshire
A young Schofield Barracks (Hawai'i) soldier who deployed to Iraq just last month died Monday from a non-combat-related incident in Taji, a little north of Baghdad, the Army said. The incident is under investigation.
PFC McDaniel's family has not yet chosen to speak to the media, but a neighbor remembered Juctin warmly:
Joy Langtry, who lives across the street from the McDaniel family in the rural Andover neighborhood of 2- and 3-acre lots, expressed shock and sadness that McDaniel had died.
"I didn't know him well, but I know that he was very, very proud of his military service, and I think that he found a lot of direction having joined the military," Langtry said by phone.
McDaniel graduated from Merrimack Valley High School, Langtry said. He joined the Army just more than a year ago [November 2006] and was assigned to Schofield Barracks in April, his Fort Shafter command said.
Langtry remembers the lanky man with blond hair helping his stepfather in the garden, and playing basketball with his brothers and sisters.
"Kinda quiet, but always ready to wave and say 'Hello' when I went by," she said. "He was a decent kid and I know that his family felt his going into the Army really, really helped him."
PFC McDaniel was a generator mechanic with the 536th Maintenance Company. His command has its headquarters at Fort Shafter, Hawai'i. About 140 soldiers with the 536th deployed to Iraq. The unit is not part of the Stryker brigade, which just sent 4,000 soldiers to Iraq and will be based in part at Taji, an air base about 10 miles north of Baghdad.
Our hearts are with the family and friends who loved Juctin McDaniel. Deeply loved, desperately missed.
Major Perry H. Jefferson
A long journey is finally over: Major Perry H. Jefferson was identified as having died in a plane crash in Vietnam 1969. His brother expressed relief at the closure:
"It's always been like an unfinished book for the family," Michael Jefferson said. "So I guess you can say we're grateful for the closure."
They lived these past years in fear that Major Jefferson was either a prisoner of war, or possibly stuck in Vietnam, lost. "The thought of him wandering around in Vietnam was not a good one."
"All these years we never really never knew what happened, but we had reports that he was seen as a prisoner," said Jefferson's brother, Mike Jefferson, 68, of Greenwood Village. "Now we know he didn't have to suffer at all, that he died in the crash of the plane. That, at least, is a big relief."
Major Perry H. Jefferson was an aerial observer doing photo reconnaissance over a mountainous region in Vietnam, when contact with the plane was lost on April 3, 1969. His body was never found.
Waiting, wondering, while the years passed by, the family saved newspaper stories about soldiers who did not return from the war. Finally, about a year ago, Michael Jefferson was asked to provide a DNA sample after a Vietnamese national living in California turned over human remains recovered from the site where Jefferson's plane went down. It was a match, and the family finally had their answer after almost 40-years of waiting.
Major Perry Jefferson leaves behind his brother, Michael, and two children, one living in the Denver area and another in Pittsburgh. His wife Sylvia died about five years ago, with all her questions unanswered.
"I hope people can get the closure I got. It's tremendous," Michael reports.
Major Jefferson's remains will be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on April 3, 2008.
Welcome home, Sir, and may your journey finally end in peace.
Please consider supporting the following fine organizations this holiday: AnySoldier.com, Fisher House, Military Pets Foster Project, Guardian Angels for Soldier's Pets, or Operation Ensuring Christmas, for the children of our fallen troops.
Thank you so much for caring!
Please take a moment to honor the memories of all service men and women who have passed through this world much too quickly.
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remind. Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and is currently maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, MsWings, greenies, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, Wee Mama, twilight falling, joyful, moneysmith, noweasels, roses, SisTwo, and Avila.
These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but, we believe, an important service to those Americans who have died, and to our community’s respect for and remembrance of them.
Peace and Blessings.
