VERNAL, UT, US
U.S. Marine Corps
SGT, 3D RECON BN, (II MEF FWD), 3D MAR DIV, OKINAWA, JA
08/05/2011, HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
Sergeant Gurr made it clear as a child that he intended to be a soldier as soon as he was old enough. And just a week after graduating from high school he reported to boot camp. At 17 Sergeant Gurr had gotten his parents’ permission to enlist. Daniel chose the Marine Corps because: “the uniform was better, so he could pick up more chicks.”
But Tracy Beede, Sergeant Gurr’s mother didn’t find that 17-year-old kid when she traveled to Camp Pendleton, CA. to watch her son graduate from boot camp.
“He’d gone from the little boy I’d sent to boot camp to a man; a through and through man,” Mrs. Beede added.
“I had probably never been so proud of him, and not as just a mom, but as an American,” Mrs. Beede explained. “To watch that many Marines graduate and that many young men and women be ready to take the oath and make that sacrifice for our freedom, for our country — to give up everything for that — it was amazing.”
Mrs. Beede believes Sergeant Gurr died in the service of others doing something he was always meant to do. He squeezed every experience possible into his brief life.
“I did not see a moment since Daniel’s been born that he didn’t enjoy life,” his mother explained. “He lived life to the fullest. At 21, that boy lived a full life.”
Mrs. Beede said her biggest fear is that people will forget her son and his sacrifice. Sergeant Gurr will always be remembered particularly through The Daniel D. Gurr Foundation, helping warriors active, wounded and the families of the fallen. It’s mission is to conduct a wounded warrior hunt in Eastern Utah, send packages to troops in Afghanistan and to contribute to the Fisher House in Dover, DE.
Mrs. Beede concluded that Sergeant Gurr “ was a true man with a heart of gold. He would have taken a bullet for anybody, even if he didn’t know them.”