Daniel Edward Jurecko was a 19 year Crew Chief flying a combat aviation mission in South Vietnam when the UH-1 helicopter he was flying in was shot down. Daniel was flying with James Dayton, pilot, George Condrey III, pilot and Robert Jenne, Door Gunner. Daniel's body was not recovered. The loss of Daniel and his fellow crew-members was felt by each member of the 281st Assault Helicopter Company and they shall not be forgotten.

Danny was my mom's cousin,

He passed 55 days before I was born. Were it not for his passing and the freshness of the pain of loss, I would have carried his name. A crew chief on a UH-1C gun ship, he always dreamed of flying.

Growing up he tied towels around his neck and in superman fashion jumped off the roof believing he could fly!! My aunt as a small girl landed flat on her back and lost her wind, never forgetting she couldn't fly. I believe my uncle broke his first bone on one of these excursions.

As a young teen, Danny would go to downtown Corpus Christi late at night and collect roosting pigeons. He had a coop in his back yard with what seemed hundreds in it. He marveled that if set free they came back. A troubled teen, he joined the Army at his Father's insistence**. The family guilt exists to this day.

As the crew chief on the UH-1, one of Danny's last letters home said, " In these helicopters I have finally found myself, I am flying!!" Though later lost he was found on the most deeper sense at the end. This story mirrors many of us.

I told this story through the eyes and ears of my Mother, Father and Aunts and Uncles. I grew up as a cousin, because his memory filled a place in our families lives and stories. Danny was not forgotten, His memorial patch was the first patch on my vest, I tell his story often by mention of the patch.

It is through this website( Members Groups and Message Boards) that I found Danny's Unit and talked to his commanding officer. It is through this organization that I honor his memory as a Patriot Guard Rider today. We would have ridden missions together if he were with us today. Matter of fact, he does ride missions with us, because for me and my family, he is not forgotten.

This letter is written all my love,

Ronny "BEAR" Awtry
Director of Help On The Homefront
bear@patriotguard.org

"Dear God, Please help me be the man that my dog's think I am!!"
In memory of Danny Jurecko. May 8, 1968. 281st AHC Intruder. You are not forgotten.

**Note: Danny's Father served in WWII

A MAN IS NOT DEAD UNTIL HE IS FORGOTTEN