Patriots recognize POW at service

By BOB J0HNSON
Register City Editor

A Patriot Guard Riders flag is the backdrop for scenes from Wednesday’s participation in graveside services for Danny McDaniel, native Iolan and Korean War prisoner of war. Top right, Richard Gilliland is a Rider from Iola; top left, soldiers from Fort Riley carry McDaniel’s flag-draped coffin through a corridor of flags held by Patriot Guard Riders; middle, Riders arrive at Highland Cemetery by way of Cottonwood Street; lower left, Patriot Guard members form a circle of flags during services; lower right, a Fort Riley soldier plays taps.

A hero was buried in Highland Cemetery Wednesday afternoon.
Harold E. “Danny” McDaniel, a native Iolan, served in Korea during the early 1950s war there and was greatly decorated. He earned three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action and three bronze stars, medals given to soldiers who go beyond the call of duty.
He also was captured by North Korean troops and spent a year in a prisoner of war camp.
All that occurred after McDaniel was born and raised in Iola. He was 75 when he died April 22 in Santa Paula, Calif.
“When he joined the service, Dad stopped in California, liked what he saw and settled there after Korea,” Air Force Sgt. Darin McDaniel told the Register just ahead of graveside services.
“He never told us too much about the war and nothing about being a prisoner of war,” his son said. “We finally figured out that he was a prisoner for about a year. That’s all we know about that part of his life.”
McDaniel’s graveside services came with full military honors and was attended by a contingent of Patriot Guard Riders, 24 bikes strong.
“This is just phenomenal,” Darin McDaniel said of the Riders, most dressed in leathers with patches and medals telling who they are and that they are eager to honor those who served their country.
Most in the Patriot Guard are veterans, but not all. All do share an enthusiasm and unabashed sense of patriotism for the United States.
They frequently gather to form a human shield whenever Fred Phelps and his protesters from Topeka come to a veteran’s funeral. They were in Iola in October 2006 when visitation for John Wood, an 891st National Guard killed in Iraq. The next day they accompanied family to Wood’s burial near Mapleton. No protesters were here yesterday.
The Riders do more than attend funerals.
Patriot Guards escort bodies from one place to another, meet at rallies to celebrate their patriotism and are responsive anytime anyone asks for assistance.
After forming up at Jump Start, they rode on U.S. 54 to Cottonwood Street and then north to Highland Cemetery.
Once there members unfurled flags — many also had them attached to bikes — and made a corridor for McDaniel’s flag-draped casket to be carried from hearse to grave site. During services, they formed a circle, with flags standing straight out in a stiff breeze, around the family.
The U.S. Army also sent 11 soldiers to Iola from Fort Riley to perform military rites. Seven of the soldiers fired a three-volley rifle salute and another played the haunting notes of taps on a bugle. The soldier in a touching ceremony removed the flag from McDaniel’s coffin and presented it to his family.

“IT MAKES me feel good about myself” to ride with others in the Patriot Guard, Iolan Richard Gilliland said. “I don’t do it for the notoriety, just because I want to and think it’s the least we can do for someone who has served his country.
“They deserve all we can do to recognize them,” he said.
Gilliland is a Navy veteran and served during the war in Vietnam.
Rick Wagner, who lives near Pittsburg, organized the ride once he arrived in Iola, a chore he has done often.
“I have a job where my boss lets we off work for Patriot Guard missions. I’m glad I can be of service,” he said.
Wagner’s wife came along in a pickup truck that carried flags Patriot Guard members held during ceremonies at the cemetery. Riders came from Pittsburg, Yates Center, Burlington, Chanute, Moran and Iola.
“We might have had more, but there was another service” elsewhere in eastern Kansas Wednesday, Iolan David Fontaine, who rides often with the Patriot Guard, said.
Those who came were much appreciated.
“Everyone everywhere knows about the Patriot Guard Riders,” Darin McDaniel, an F-15 mechanic stationed at an air base in Florida, said. “And everyone appreciates what they do.”