Remember...
George William McDaniel
1947-1967
"The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."
General Douglas MacArthur
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Remember...George William McDaniel
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George William McDaniel was born on October 21, 1947, in Lorain, Lorain County, Ohio to Paul McDaniel and Betty M. McDaniel. George's parents would soon divorce, and Paul took George and his sister Judy Ann to live in Point Pleasant, Mason County, West Virginia. Paul would latter remarry Izetta Schneider McDaniel. Betty would remarry as well in 1965 to Okey Nichols of Lorain, Ohio. In 1965, George and Judy Ann would move from Point Pleasant to Lorain to live with their mother.
Point Pleasant is the county seat for Mason County as it lies between the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers. The population in 1960 was 5,785 people, which was a 25 percent increase from 1950. Growing up in Point Pleasant, George attended Point Pleasant High School and probably graduated in 1965.
During the time that George was growing up, many disputes were happening. The struggles for Vietnam began shortly after the end of World War II. Communism was something that many Americans feared, along with their allies. The U.S. was going to try and prevent the spread of communism, as it was threatening to expand all over Southeast Asia.
At the beginning of 1967, the United States was engaged in a steadily expanding air and ground war in Southeast Asia. Since its inception in February 1965, Operation Rolling Thunder, the bombing campaign against North Vietnam, had escalated in the number and significance of its targets, inflicting major damage on transportation networks, industry, and petroleum refining and storage facilities. Yet the campaign showed no signs of achieving either of its stated objectives. The air attacks had not broken the Hanoi government's will to continue the war, and they had not halted or appreciably hindered the flow of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) troops and supplies into South Vietnam. (Vietnam War history based on: Ronald H. Spector, "Vietnam War: 1954-1975," Encyclopaedia Britannica, last updated 13 March 2022, accessed 8 April 2022, https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War/The-U-S-role-grows; "The Vietnam War," U.S. History [online textbook], 2022, accessed 8 April 2022, https://www.ushistory.org/us/55.asp; and "Vietnam War," History.com, 29 October 2009, last updated 25 October 2021, accessed 8 April 2022, https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history.)
George enlisted in the U.S. Army while he was living in Lorain, Ohio, probably in 1966. His military occupation specialty (MOS) was 11B: Light Weapons Infantry. After he graduated from basic and advanced individual training, he was sent to Vietnam. His rank was private first class (PFC), and his tour started on December 12, 1966. He was assigned to the Reconnaissance Platoon, E Company, 3rd Battalion, 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, U.S. Army, Republic of Vietnam (USARV).
The 9th Infantry Division was reactivated on February 1, 1966, and arrived in South Vietnam on December 16, 1966, from Fort Riley, Kansas. On deployment, the Division was assigned to the III Corps Tactical Zone of Vietnam, where it commenced operations in Dinh Tuong and Long An Provinces (6 January-31 May 1967). Its area of operations was in the rivers and canals of the Mekong Delta from 1967 to 1972. Operating deep within the Viet Cong (VC)-controlled Delta, the Division was charged with protecting the area and its population against VC insurgents and ensuring the success of the South Vietnamese government's pacification program. Faced with unrelenting physical hardships, a tenacious enemy and the region's rugged terrain, the Division established strategies and quantifiable goals for completing their mission. ("9th Infantry Division: 1918-1968," accessed 8 April 2022, https://vva.vietnam.ttu.edu/images.php?img=/images/2624/26240103001.pdf.)
The 3rd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment, was based at Rach Kien with one company in the town of Can Giuoc and another company 15 kilometers southeast of Rach Kien, where the Vam Co Dong merged with the Saigon River. Highway 5A passed through Can Giuoc District, connecting Saigon with Go Cong Province. In order to maximize coverage of the province, the 3rd Brigade used "jitterbug" missions, landing several companies from the 3/39th Infantry and 2/60th Infantry by helicopter for short searches of tree lines or canals and then redeploying to another location if no PAVN/VC were located. Night ambushes were also regularly placed along likely infiltration routes and staging areas. More than 30 percent of all operations were combined operations with ARVN forces.
On April 29, 1967, around 1500 hours, the Reconnaissance Platoon was conducting a Search and Clear mission approximately four kilometers from Rach Kien, Long An Province, South Vietnam, when they encountered hostile small arms fire. Pfc. George McDaniel was hit and subsequently died of his injuries. His body was recovered and returned to the U.S.
| Pfc. McDaniel was buried in Lone Oak Cemetery, Point Pleasant, Mason County, West Virginia. He will always be remembered for his sacrifice to our country as he is memorialized on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., on Panel 18E, Line 115. He is also remembered at the West Virginia Veterans Memorial located in Charleston, West Virginia and on the Lorain County Vietnam War Memorial in Lorain, Ohio. |  |
While George was in Vietnam, he wrote his mother at least four times a week. Shortly before he was killed, in one of his letters he wrote, "Mom, try and get me home--I don't think I'm going to make it." His mom said, "He wrote often and didn't think he would survive due to all of the combat missions." She actually received a letter from him on the day of his funeral.
Pfc. McDaniel was qualified to receive the following awards and decorations: the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Marksmanship Badge, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Army Presidential Unit Citation, the Vietnam Gallantry Cross, and the Army Good Conduct Medal. ("George Willliam McDaniel," HonorStates.org, accessed 8 April 2022, https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=286786.)
Article prepared by Monrene Ross, Janessa Valentine, and MAJ (Ret) Brad McGee, George Washington High School JROTC
April 2022
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.