A Family’s Long Wait
by Caroline Rainbolt-Forbes
Mark Giles Danielson
April 29, 1943-June 18, 1972, buried October 18, 2003
Mark Danielson was born on April 29, 1943, in Las Vegas, Nevada, to his parents, Roderick Danielson, a World War Two veteran, and Ruth C. Keefe.[1] Mark grew up with his two sisters, Lea Collette and Judith Katherine Danielson.[2] Both of his parents worked in the oil field which resulted in his family’s ultimate relocation to Rangely, Colorado.[3] Growing up, Mark’s sister Lea said her brother was “an extrovert, and he loved people. When he walked into a room, the whole room lit up."[4] He attended Rangely High School and was heavily involved in a variety of activities.[5] He was in his junior class play, enjoyed playing golf and bridge, and was even Vice President of Student Council in 1960.[6]
U.S. involvement in Vietnam started in 1955, with the U.S. backing South Vietnam to stop the spread of Communism from North Vietnam. Note this was during the Cold War when the spread of Communism was a large concern of the U.S. Then in the early 1970s President Nixon started a “Vietnamization” policy, where the U.S. would train the South Vietnamese to take over military efforts and the U.S. would start to pull out. However, several Communist offensives led against South Vietnam and other Indonesian countries made the U.S. hesitant to move out.[7] Mark Danielson joined the United States Air Force and was deployed on August 18, 1971.[8] Mark’s sister Lea said they grew up believing that being in the military was an honorable service, as their father had served in World War Two.[9] Danielson left behind two young children, one daughter and one son, and the rest of his family who primarily resided in Colorado.[10] His specialty was as an Electronic Warfare Officer and he served as a Captain with the 16th Special Operations Squadron.[11] On June 18, 1972, Captain Danielson’s plane went down in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, where he was eventually declared dead after a year of being marked as missing in action.[12] He was only twenty-nine years old when he died. Although declared missing in action, Captain Danielson and the rest of the eleven servicemen in his squadron perished in the crash of their Spectre gunship.[13] This was not the end of Captain Danielson’s story, however, because it would require another thirty years for his body to make it home to Colorado. While it was concluded that he had died in the plane crash in June 1973, he was still not yet back on American soil. Although his remains were finally returned to U.S. soil on October 5th, 1993, it still was not known that these remains were his.[14] Captain Danielson’s remains had been co-mingled with the other members of his squadron, and it would require another year for his individual remains to be identified, specifically on October 12, 1994.[15]
While his family was waiting for a definitive answer on what had happened to their son, husband, brother, and father, some of them never gave up hope that he could still be alive. Sadly, Captain Danielson’s father passed away before his son’s remains were either found or identified.[16] After some of the co-mingled remains were identified, there was a military group burial for the soldiers of AC130A- Major Gerald F. Ayers, Captain Mark Danielson, Senior Master Sergeant Jacob Mercer, Tech Sergeant Richard Cole, Captain Paul Gilbert, Major Robert Harrison, Sergeant Leon Hunt, Sergeant Donald Klinke, Sergeant Stanley Lehrke, Sergeant Larry Newman, Sergeant Richard Nyhof, and Captain Robert Wilson, at Arlington National Cemetery on November 17, 1994.[17] It would still be close to another decade before Captain Danielson made it home to Colorado on October 18, 2003, when he was laid to rest in his final resting place at Fort Logan National Cemetery.[18] His family could finally have some closure and Captain Danielson could finally rest at home.
Captain Mark Danielson’s legacy lives on in multiple impactful ways, through his family members, some of whom still live in the area, and through the Mark Danielson Memorial Scholarship at Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado. This scholarship was named in Captain Danielson’s honor because of his involvement in ROTC.[19] Captain Danielson also received the Purple Heart, an award given to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who have been injured or killed in the line of duty and the Distinguished Flyer Cross. Captain Mark Danielson made the ultimate sacrifice for his country, as a son, brother, father, friend, and hero.
Footnotes ↓
[1] Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/6136584/person/1656647808/facts?_phsrc=hZL12&_phstart=successSource.
[2] Cribbs, Bill. "Colorado Obituary and Death Notice Archive." GenLookups.com - Finding Your Family Tree Data Online. http://www.genlookups.com/co/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/433.
[3] Cribbs, Bill. "Colorado Obituary and Death Notice Archive." GenLookups.com - Finding Your Family Tree Data Online. http://www.genlookups.com/co/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/433.
[4] Patterson, Michael Robert. “Mark Giles Danielson, Captain, United States Air Force.” http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/mdaniel.htm.
[5] MyHeritage.com. https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10569-52710166/mark-danielson-in-us-yearbooks-name-index.
[6] MyHeritage.com. https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10569-52710166/mark-danielson-in-us-yearbooks-name-index.
[7] "How Effective Was the Vietnamization?" The Vietnam War. May 02, 2016. https://thevietnamwar.info/how-effective-was-the-vietnamization/.
[8] "Mark Giles Danielson." Honor States. https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=323403.
[9] Patterson, Michael Robert. “Mark Giles Danielson, Captain, United States Air Force.” http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/mdaniel.htm.
[10] "Ancestry.com” https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/6136584/person/1656647808/facts?_phsrc=hZL12&_phstart=successSource.
[11]"Mark Giles Danielson." Honor States. https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=323403.
[12] "Mark Giles Danielson." Honor States. https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=323403.
[13] "Mark Giles Danielson: Person, Pictures and Information." Fold3. https://www.fold3.com/page/630027339-mark-giles-danielson/stories.
[14] “CAPT Mark Giles Danielson, Rangely, CO” on Www.VirtualWall.org, The Virtual Wall® Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. http://www.virtualwall.org/dd/DanielsonMG01a.htm.
[15] “CAPT Mark Giles Danielson, Rangely, CO” on Www.VirtualWall.org. The Virtual Wall® Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. http://www.virtualwall.org/dd/DanielsonMG01a.htm.
[16] Cribbs, Bill. "Colorado Obituary and Death Notice Archive." GenLookups.com - Finding Your Family Tree Data Online. http://www.genlookups.com/co/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/433.
[17] "Mark Giles Danielson: Person, Pictures and Information." Fold3. Accessed July 12, 2019. https://www.fold3.com/page/630027339-mark-giles-danielson/stories.
[18] "Mark Giles Danielson: Person, Pictures and Information." Fold3. Accessed July 12, 2019. https://www.fold3.com/page/630027339-mark-giles-danielson/stories.
[19] Colorado State University. https://advancing.colostate.edu/AFROTC.
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