DRY RIDGE, KY, USA U.S. Army SGT, COMPANY C, 201ST ENGINEER BATTALION, CYNTHIANA, KY BADIN KHEYL, AFGHANISTAN 10/31/2008
Army Sergeant (SGT) Daniel W. Wallace, died October 31, 2008, at the age of 27 in Badin Kheyl, Afghanistan, while serving during Operation Enduring Freedom. Danny joined the Kentucky Army National Guard in May 2006 and was on his first deployment, where he served as a gunner in a Mine-Resistant, Armor-Protected vehicle. His platoon was conducting a mission to find and remove improvised explosive devices when one of the vehicles got stuck. A group of Taliban fighters attacked his unit using small arms fire and he was fatally shot.
Danny was born on October 21, 1981, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Kenneth and Karen Wallace. He lived in Dry Ridge Kentucky, where he graduated from Grant County High School in 2001. Danny’s siblings include a sister, Kim, and three brothers, Kenneth Jr., Brian, and Alex, who is also a member of the Kentucky Army National Guard. Spc. Alex Wallace serves as a medic with the Military Police. The two brothers had decided to make the military their career. “I am proud of my brother,” Alex said. “I’m going to keep carrying on. I know [Danny] wants me to.”
His mother, Karen Wallace, said her son loved being in the military and was also very religious and helped his unit’s chaplain. A tearful Karen Wallace said her son had asked her to write to other soldiers who had not recently received letters of their own. “Danny had a lot, a lot of sympathy for people,” she said. “Danny’s my fallen hero.”
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear ordered flags to fly at half-staff during Danny’s funeral, which nearly 400 people attended. He was remembered as fun-loving, committed to his faith, and dedicated to his two children, Abigail Rose Wallace and Cody George Mardis. Danny was buried in Kentucky Veterans Cemetery North in Williamstown.
Comments