Daniel Chavez
 |
| Age: |
|
20 |
| Hometown: |
Seattle, WA |
| Date of Death: |
6/9/2005 |
| Incident Location: |
Haqlaniyah, Iraq |
| Branch of Military: |
|
Marines |
| Rank: |
Lance Cpl. |
| Unit: |
1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division |
| Unit's Base: |
Camp Pendleton, Calif. |
|
Daniel Chavez went out of his way to do nice things for people _ he tutored classmates in math and sent his mom four cards for Mother's Day. "Out of six kids, he was always the one that just grabbed your attention," said his sister Lydia. "There was always something about him that you could just love and love and love and love." Chavez, 20, of Seattle, was killed June 9 in an explosion in Haqlaniyah. He was based at Camp Pendleton. Born in Odessa, Texas, Chavez played basketball and baseball and never missed a day of school. "If every student was like Danny, there wouldn't be any teachers who would think of doing anything else for a living," teacher Steve Molnes said. Chavez joined the Marines after graduating from high school and had talked about becoming a police officer or mechanic and buying his mother a house. "He was one of those kids you could see was really going to make something out of his life," teacher Terry Gosse said.