Mark Daily laid to rest

IRVINEMark Daily planned to be in Iraq for a long time. True to form, he came prepared.

The 23-year-old lugged with him tomes like "War and Peace" and "Atlas Shrugged'' when deployed in October.

He told his wife, Janet, 22, to send him "as many random movies" as she could along with music from Mozart to Motown.

Daily barely had time to start feeding his voracious intellect.

Saturday, a community turned out to honor the soldier.

Daily was killed only three months into his mission and wrote eloquently about his reasons for volunteering to go to Iraq

He said he was tired of sitting around discussing the war, and felt it his duty to help the oppressed.

"Often times it is less about how clean your actions are and more about how pure your intentions are,'' Daily wrote on his Web site.

The second lieutenant in the Army died in an explosion in Mosul on Jan. 15. Three other soldiers also were killed.

Daily's death sparked a huge outpouring of sorrow from a community touched by his clear-headed, apolitical desire to fight for victims of bullying regimes.

Saturday, the goodbyes started early for the Woodbridge High and UCLA graduate.

Neighbors began gathering before 8 a.m. along West Yale Loop in Irvine's Woodbridge community.

By the time two black limousines left about an hour later to take the Daily family to the memorial service, a line of about 300 people stretched down three blocks. Children and adults stood in silent tribute.

"This could have been any one of our kids,'' said Lori Wallace, who handed out small American flags.

Kevin Babb also showed up. A week earlier, he purchased and installed flags at more than two-dozen homes in the neighborhood.

"We wanted the family to know that they have caring neighbors who support them and mourn for them,'' Babb said.

Linda Daily, Mark's mother, said her son had an expansive sense of community.

"He felt that all people should enjoy the sense of community he enjoyed,'' she said.

About 1,300 people attended the mid-morning memorial service at Mariner's Church in Irvine.

Daily was quoted on the program: "Never forget that you can be a positive force for change.''

Mourners cried and laughed as relatives and friends told stories about the talkative young man who put family first and was thrilled to have landed combat duty in a war zone.

"Having the time of my life!'' he wrote in his final e-mail from Iraq.

Daily's older sister, Christine, 26, flanked by siblings Eric, 20, and Nicole, 16, told the mourners about Mark's "amazing sense of compassion" and how he was protective of his brother and sisters.

The crowd laughed when Christine recalled how Mark told Nicole that he would be there when her first date came over, sitting on the sofa and cleaning his shotgun.

"He was the thread that wove us together,'' Christine said.

Close friend Erol Ari said there was no one he'd rather be stuck with on a long drive than Daily, who would amaze him with his breadth of knowledge and ability to make him laugh.

Grandfather Charles Jennings called Daily a "citizen soldier,'' adding, "It seems that (wars) take the lives of our best and brightest.''

Retired Maj. Michael Berry, Daily's mentor in UCLA's ROTC program, recalled the cadet's devotion to "selfless service.''

Said Berry, "He passionately felt that he could make a difference in this world.''

John Daily, Mark's father, praised his son for "choosing the difficult right over the easy wrong.''

Janet Daily, Mark's wife, tearfully read e-mails she and her husband exchanged when he was in Iraq.

The 105-minute service was followed by an honor-guard ceremony that included a 21-gun salute and the presentation of the flag and Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals to Daily's family.

After a soldier played "Taps,'' a Black Hawk Army helicopter cut through the cloudy sky.

The pilot intoned, "Mission complete."

The crowd stood silent, many weeping behind dark sunglasses.

Daily's ashes will be scattered along the Oregon coast where he spent his childhood summers.

In the short time he was in Iraq, he wrote a lot.

In an e-mail he sent in mid-November to a fellow soldier, Daily described himself as a "morale officer'' who charged himself with keeping his fellow soldiers upbeat.

"No one can achieve greatness without danger,'' Daily wrote. "Good luck 'over there,' and don't let the desert get the best of you.''

He ended the e-mail with, "Remember: You carry a new world in your heart.''

From the Register

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