European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 1, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse A Amily s grief military family mourns son s death in Gulf photo Courtesy of Dolly Daniels misty Daniels at the grave of her husband Michael on what would have been their first wedding anniversary. By Effie Bathen Nurnberg Bureau before the persian Gulf War hardly a Day went by that Dolly Daniels did t brag at her office about her Aerial scout son Michael. But since his death in an iraqi desert helicopter crash she does t mention his name much anymore. A Dolly is a supervisor at the in and out processing Center at the american Cavern in Grafe Wohr Germany. Its where local soldiers cleared paperwork for their persian Gulf deployment and in recent weeks their return. Quot i Tell some wounded soldiers that i lost my son Quot said Dolly. Quot you could Tell that it hurts them too. They lost one of their fellow soldiers Quot it has Beeno Werthan four months since her son s oh-58 to return from its feb. 20 reconnaissance Mission Over Iraq. He was an army specialist with co a of the 1 St in 24th aviation regt based at Hunter army air Field in Savannah a. The Danielss Are just one family mourning deaths of 389 americans who in the persian Gulf. Recently they talked about their loss. As they spoke they stopped once or twice to let tears fall but then went on a Battle that i have within myself. Sometimes i get angry and there a nobody who can do anything for me Quot Dolly said in her Home just outside the Grafe Wohr training area. The sound of artillery fire Over a Ridge rumbled like a storm about to break. But those in the family say they Don t hear the artillery fire anymore. They include Michael s father master sgt. Craig Daniels and his sister Melisa 13. Craig is a re enlistment and recruiting Counselor at the 1 St army dives 1 St brigade in Vilseck. The family was at Home when they heard about the crash. Michael s wife misty who had come from the states to be closer to him was also there. Quot the hardest part for me is when i close my eyes Quot Dolly said. That s when the nights events Are replayed Over and Over in her mind. Quot that a when All the what ifs and a whys come Back Quot she said. 0 they heard the report of an.oh-58 helicopter crash on the late night news. Dolly turned to her husband and asked if it could be Michael. He tried to reassure her that she get upset every time she heard about a crash. The Doorbell woke them a Little after Midnight. Craig knew it be Good news. He and Dolly looked out the window and saw the chaplains car out front. A Craig a casualty notification officer himself had done a practice notification with the chaplain s family earlier in the Day. Quot i already started crying at the top of the stairs Quot Dolly said. On hearing the official s words misty screamed. The grieving father returned to his room and closed the door. Dolly heard him crying and kicking things while she and misty Clung to each other. Dolly says that the mourning process is just something she and the rest of the family will have to get through. But she still hates to go to bed. Quot its like a Hurt a like someone took a knife and stabbed you a and it s , spec. Michael Daniels received the army air medal and a handful of awards posthumously. Misty accepted them at an awards ceremony. Dolly has heard of Many Bronze Star awards. Quot they give Blanket awards to Guys that were not even in Battle Quot she said. Quot to me it brings the award Down. It demeans it. Quot what can they give me that s going to replace my son the Only heroes to me Are the ones who did t come Michael is not the first family member to die in the military. Dolly a brother in Law a Navy Rescue diver died in an Accident several years ago. His body was never recovered which added to the family s grief. Dolly said that after her son s death she get rid of a feeling that the army was holding something Back. With that in mind misty sought out the Rescue team that found Michael a body. The 20-year-old widow now lives with her Mother in South Dakota but met with the Leader of the Rescue team when they returned stateside. In april she wrote to her in Laws that Michael slight helicopter crashed into the ground at 120 Miles per hour. Death was instantaneous for both Michael and the Pilot. According to the Soldier who carried the bodies from the smashed helicopter Quot both medics went into Shock dropped their weapons and wandered aimlessly crying and talking to that Soldier sedated the medics and upon returning to the Home base took a sedative himself she wrote. The letter continued with details about Michael a shattered body. The most serious injury was to his head where his night vision goggles had been shoved into his face. In a Way the letter lessened the family s pain Craig said. Its details somehow validated the horror of his loss. Several schoolchildren from the states wrote to Michael while he was in the Gulf. Misty planned to answer the letters that kept coming after his death. She wanted them to know More about who he was. Michael was a loner most people thought and very quiet. He was very close to his family a close enough that he called his Mother when he had a falling out with misty then still his High school sweetheart. His Mother had always worked so his grandmother Madonna Cook took care of him As he was growing up in Honolulu. Even when he went into the army he called his grandmother each sunday. She had Given him a religious medal. It was so Long ago that it wore an impression in the Bible he kept in his flight suit pocket. Misty would hit him there when he left for work each Day to see if he had it with him. Photo Courtesy of Dolly Daniels one of the last photos taken of spec. Michael Daniels Here with his helicopter in saudi Arabia. Misty and Michael were married in april 1990. Their belated honeymoon to the Bahamas was interrupted when he was called Back to deploy with his unit to saudi Arabia in August. He was 19. Quot Michael was buried at fort Leavenworth National cemetery in Kansas. He had met misty at nearby. Leavenworth High school. They both graduated from the school in 1988. The funeral mass was said at St. Ignatius Chapel where Michael attended services each week. Among the 200 people who attended his funeral were the states . Senators and a congressman. Michael a Goat was to be a warrant office and Pilot a Kiowa helicopter of his own. He often joked that someday maybe his father would have to Salute him. Craig with nearly 20 years in the army said that despite his songs death his thinking about the military Hasni to changed he still loves it. And he said that Michael loved it Quot he never was the Type of Young Soldier who was t it s like a Hurt and stabbed you like someone took a knife and its still there a Dolly Daniels afraid Quot Craig said. Quot he knew that there was a lot of fear in his his son died because he believed in what he was doing he said. But Quot at times you get really angry after you still see a Saddam Hussein run that country and do some arrogant things Quot he said. Quot you feel angered that we should have at least got him out of Power. Quot so that does t give me peace Quot the career Soldier said. Quot this person is still there and maybe someone else a son will have to Goback and rid this person from Craig said he was glad to see other soldiers return but it Hurt that his son could not be part of the Celebration. Those feelings were shared by Melisa Michael skid sister. One of the things she liked Best was the Way that he and misty let her join them watching video movies. He liked scary ones with gory stuff she said. She still feels pain when she thinks about her brother. Quot when i hear my friends talk about it i think How he a a hero for dying in saudi Quot she said. Quot in a Happy when they talk about their dads nothing Home. But the thing i think about is Why did t my brother come Home Quot Michael s Uncle Albert Cardenas aids almost the same question. He is Dolly a brother but he and Michael grew up in Hawaii like Brothers a a couple of Quot Hapau Hole filipinos Quot he said making fun of their hawaiian and filipino heritage. A both surfers they planned to try ski boarding in the Alps when their desert duty was Over. Albert is a communication specialist with the 3rd in 20th Field arty stationed near Hanau Germany. In saudi Arabia he was based about 100 Miles from Michael. Quot Ever time i saw an of chopper Fly by i d think it could be my Nephew Quot he said. When Michael died Kansas sen. Robert Dole interceded to get Albert out of saudi Arabia to the funeral on emergency leave. He did no to make it though. When Albert reached Germany officials invalidated his a amps Fyffe Botfan Dolly Daniels reread one of the letters she received from her son. A i Striff Ivhon master sgt. Craig Daniels says his son Quot never was the Type of Young Soldier who Wasny to a amps Ehin Bolhen the thing i think about la Why did no to my brother come Home a a says Melisa Daniels 13. Emergency leave telling him that he was not a close enough relative. Quot it was abusing the system Quot he was told. Dolly said that it was one of the greatest disappointments of her life that Albert could not be with the family when Michael was buried. In the meantime he has called her every few Days and visited the family in Grafe Wohr. That s where he heard some old audio tapes with his and Michael s voices As children. On one they re singing on and on. Taped Over part of it is Michael s voice Reading a Grade school vocabulary list. The family keeps most other remembrances on a shelf in the living room. They include a stack of letters. Two or three they received from Michael after he died. Among the letters is a Handwritten sympathy note from president Bush. And a studio photo of a Sun tanned toddler in a Sun suit with a Duck on it. One of the treasures is a video movie Michael made while out in the desert. The Aerial scout taped Over a video that misty sent him the Only one he could find. In that last video he gave a one Man tour of the base Camp pointing out his bunk some tents that looked alike and helicopters. When an oh-58 came in with apaches he called it Quot the Manly he also grunted something that sounded like Quot Hua Hua Check finally he propped the camera on the Tail of his helicopter and stood in front of it. He was in his flight suit probably the Bible with the medal in his pocket. His hair was Cut High and tight. Quot i m Fine. I la be Home soon. Love you All. I love you misty Quot he said.,"keep up the writing and Send a batteries. I need he stood for an awkward moment with no More to say and walked Forward to turn off the camera. Then he made a sign with two fingers and said the word it stood for. and the tape ended. A Page 14 the stars and stripes monday 991 the stars and stripes a Page 15
