Keep a fire burning in your eye
Pay attention to the open sky
You never know what will be coming down
I don’t remember losing track of you
You were always dancing in and out of view
I must have thought you’d always be around
Always keeping things real by playing the clown
Now you’re nowhere to be found.
--For a Dancer by Jackson Browne
Today we remember Pfc. Daniel A.C. McGuire, 19, of Mashpee, MA who died Aug. 14 while supporting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Pfc. Daniel A.C. McGuire
A 2007 graduate of Mashpee High School, Pfc. McGuire was the oldest of four brothers, according to The Iraq Page website. The article describes Daniel’s "dramatic flair" by relating stories about him acting out versions of stories with his younger brothers and performing skits at church. He also acted throughout high school where, according to the site, he starred in "Harvey" and played a flying monkey in "The Wizard of Oz."
According to WBZTV.com The Rev. Thomas Crumb, McGuire’s longtime pastor at Christ Church in Centerville, MA said Daniel was deeply committed to his religious faith.
"Dan believed deeply in the cause for which he was fighting," Crumb said. "He died doing what he believed in, what he believed God had created him to do and called him to do."
One gets the impression from reading messages left on a Facebook site created as a memorial to Daniel McGuire that he was a good and respectful friend and always ready for some fun. The remembrances left on the site are full of warmth and love and strongly hint at the type of person he was and how much he will be missed.
The Cape Cod Today website posted a photograph of the flagpole outside Mashpee High School, where the flag is flying at half-staff in honor of its’ former student:
Mashpee High School
According to WBZTV:
Janet Kraskouskas, McGuire’s high school guidance counselor, told the Boston Globe he was popular and respected at school. Kraskouskas said she and some of his teachers encouraged McGuire to go to college instead of enlisting right away. She said he was accepted for college, but his dream was to go into the military.
"He was steadfast," she told the Globe. "He had a deep commitment to serving his country and was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice."
According to The Iraq Page, his family last spoke to him a few days before his death. He had called to tell them he was moving to another post. His last words to them were, "I love you."
"He grew up a lot in the last year or so," said his father, who wore a t-shirt with the slogan ‘My son – one of the few, one of the proud, a Marine.’
"That’s his legacy to this family," he said. "The young man he became."
Rest in peace, Pfc. Daniel McGuire.
About "I Got the News Today"(IGTNT)
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor service members who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one.
Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno and is maintained by Sandy on Signal, noweasels, MsWings, greenies, blue jersey mom, chacounne, twilight falling, moneysmith, labwitchy, joyful, roses, SisTwo, monkeybiz, mediaprof and me, JeNoCo.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.