School children line the street to honor a young Marinegoing to his final resting place..

I received this e-mail today. I felt humbled and proud. It was extra special as today is my birthday. What a nice birthday present from a friend. The e-mail speaks of a young Marine who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us. And of the love and respect given him by others, especially the Sheriff of Leon County Florida, Sheriff Campbell. It was an honorable and special thing he did. As a 26+ year veteran law enforcement officer his actions may seem small to others but are understood and respected by those of us in the “business”.

Daniel was a true example of what is right with America’s young men and women.

From:                              McClenahan, Andrew [XXXXXXXX@dep.state.fl.us]

Sent:                               Wednesday, November 08, 2006 12:35 PM

To:                                   chris.wagoner@sfcc.edu

Subject:                          hey chris

Hey Chris,

Thought about you last week.  I was at the funeral for one of my closest friend’s baby brother, Daniel Chaires.  Daniel was a Marine that gave the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq in Al-Anbar two weeks ago today.  Last week was the funeral here in Tallahassee… actually, in a part called the “Chaires Community.”  The Chaires are one of the pioneer families for our capitol city.  His father is a retired Captain with the Leon County Sheriff Office and a former Marine.  His brother, my friend Todd, is a Violent Crimes Detective with them as well.  His Grand-daddy retired from the S.O., etc. 

Daniel was truly one of the good guys – an incredible kid… and that was said when he was alive.  He wanted to be a Marine since he was a kid, and he worked hard to become one – his life’s goal.  His tour in Iraq ended after only 6 weeks.  His unit was in a hot zone for the entire time – even though it was supposed to be a 10 day mission.  No time to shower, nothing.  But his unit has been dishing it out and morale was surprisingly high despite the constant engagements.  His unit was searching for a missing soldier when they engaged some enemy combatants who were attempting to set up an IED.  They took out the foe, but it turned out to be a staged event.  As soon as they engaged, a group of insurgents sprung a trap and assaulted Daniel’s unit from another angle.  One soldier was critically wounded.  Daniel never wavered, and advanced toward the enemy to press and overwhelm them as fast as possible.  During the engagement, a single round skipped off the ground and hit him in the stomach, right below his vest.  The bullet pierced his aorta.  Despite being fatally wounded, Daniel kept fighting and never stopped until the enemy had been completely annihilated.  In fact, his soldiers had to stop HIM to try to treat his wound.  He bled out before he could make it into surgery.  Daniel was promoted posthumously to Lance Corporal. 

It was an incredible service.  I think there still may be some photos and videos at http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006611030354 – worth a visit.  It was amazing to see the support that came out for this.  The Patriot Guard also made a professional and touching showing.  Law enforcement and the community really showed up in force, the way it’s supposed to be.  The Chaires Elementary school let the children out, and had them standing in a line along the procession route – every one of them silently standing with small American flags.  Amazing.

But what really touched me was what Sheriff Larry Campbell did.  You see, before Daniel went overseas, the Sheriff took him and Daniel’s dad to lunch.  When he was asked what he thought he would do when he came back, Daniel told him, “I thought I might come to work for you.”  The Sheriff told him right there and then (this shows what a great kid he was), ‘When you come back, there will be a job waiting for you.’  The day Daniel’s body arrived at the airport, Sheriff Campbell kept his word.  Daniel became a Leon County Deputy.  His swearing in date and date of retirement are the same day.

That’s the kind of stuff that you can only appreciate being a cop, a former member of the military, and as a patriot.  That’s why I thought of you.

Hope all is well with you,

Andy

 Andrew McClenahan
Captain - Internal Investigations
Office of Inspector General
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/ig/

I wrote Andy back thanking him for including me in the same sentence with this young warrior/ hero. The local paper did a beautiful job in photos and writing about this young Marine. You can see it here: http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006611030354 ,and he sent me a very special reply that included this entry in a guestbook:

I am Daniel's sister-in-law. My husband, Todd, is one of Daniel's older brothers. First, I'd like to thank you for visiting this website and honoring Daniel's memory. Secondly, I'd like to tell you a little bit about this extraordinary, young man.

I can't even begin to express the honor it was to know and love Daniel, and to be a member of his family. The Chaires family is the most amazing group of individuals I have ever met and am fortunate enough to be a part of it. I want everyone who reads this to know what an AMAZING, gracious, kind and happy young man Daniel was. I have always said that Harry and Nanna, Daniel's parents, did an incredible job of raising Daniel and his younger sister, Hannah. And I stand by that today. The values and morals that they instilled in him provided the ground work that nurtured him to grow and mature, and become the one of a kind, true Southern Gentleman and Hero that he was.

While our family is truly heartbroken and devastated by the events that occurred on October 25, 2006, we find comfort in knowing that Daniel lived out his dream of becoming a U.S. Marine and that he died a Hero and a true Warrior. We deeply mourn our loss, but know that we will see Daniel again someday.

Our focus now is to support and honor our troops that are still over there fighting the fight and defending our freedom. Please don't forget these men and women.

Semper Fidelis & God Bless America!   
Jenny Chaires (Tallahassee, FL )

The guestbook can be viewed at: http://legacy.com/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=19735253

A lot of people do not understand why or how or where these type of young men and women come from. They are a product of their upbringing, parents, experiences and society, but most of all, and thank God, they are there when we need them. These young people that want to become defenders of the very freedoms we hold so close (some not so close). Then they want to come back home and as if serving their country is not enough they want to be the first line of defense at home. I teach every day at a police academy in Florida and I thank God every day there are people like Daniel who want to take my place when the day comes for me to turn over the job to the next group of young men and women. I am only sorry that the people of Florida did not get to see Daniel become what I am sure by his service to his country, a outstanding law enforcement officer.

I wrote to the Sheriff of Lean County, Sheriff Campbell and this is the careing response I got, a true leader of men,

Dear Chris,

Thank you very much for your kind e-mail. I am truly gratified you took the time to write.

Yes, Daniel Chaires was a very fine young man and Marine. It's heros like him who have made our Country the greatest the world has ever known. Old folks, like us, have done our part, but will never equal the sacrifice Daniel and all our other heros have made.

Daniels Dad, retired Captain Harry Chaires, Leon County SO. and I were friends from highschool. As things go, we ended up in the Marines together and years later at LCSO. Really is a small world.

During "Nam" I was NCO in charge of 15 funeral details. What a sad honor that was. I was the tough Sgt. who was rock solid and displayed no emotion. Lost it when I gave Daniels credentials to his Mom and Dad.

Then the next day, again during a TV interview about it. It's strange how time makes us more sensitive, or not as tough, as we once were.

Guess that's why war is for young men.

Thank you again and be assured I'll be standing by to be of assistance if you even need it.

Semper Fi,

Larry

Its men like Sheriff Campbell that are why we have security at night to sleep soundly knowing they are leading our men and women in uniform here at home. If you feel inclined a nice note to him for what he did might be appropriate.

Please take a minute to think about the 1.3% of our population that is protecting the entire country by serving in the military. That’s right Daniel and the others in our military are a very special lot. They are the top 1.3% of our population that protect our country every single day. Daniel gave his life for us, let us never forget those that do, especially with veterans day approaching. God bless and watch over the United States of America.