Mark Daily, a 2005 alumnus, joined the ROTC program in 2003, “with the intention of going to Iraq,” according to an essay Daily posted on his MySpace Web site which details his reasons for joining the Army.
In the essay, Daily outlined his view of an oppressive situation in Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s government and stated that he wanted to be a part of the means to its end. “I simply decided that the time for candid discussions of the oppressed was over, and I joined,” he wrote.
Friends said his enthusiasm was contagious and his dedication to his job admirable.
Daily, who was three months into his first tour of duty in Iraq, was fulfilling his sense of duty to his country and Iraqis when he was killed last Monday in Mosul.
Regarded by friends and colleagues as a mentor and role model, Daily served with the Army as a second lieutenant in Operation Iraqi Freedom for three months before he was killed by a roadside improvised explosive device along with four other American soldiers.
The total American death toll in Iraq has surpassed 3,000, with at least 25 deaths this month.
Daily was 23 and married to Snejana “Janet” Daily for 18 months.
He was described by friends and those who knew him as a dedicated friend and an officer passionate about his role in the army.
Lt. Andrew Chan, a UCLA alumnus who was in ROTC with Daily, recalled a time Daily took him out all night on a week night ““ despite his heavy homework load ““ to help Chan pursue a girl.
“He was selfless in his friendship, always willing to give up his time to help out a fellow classmate, buddy or mentee,” he said.
In his MySpace essay, Daily wrote that he was once opposed to the war, but he “joined the fight because it occurred to (him) that many modern day “˜humanists’ who claim to possess a genuine concern for human beings throughout the world are in fact quite content to allow their fellow “˜global citizens’ to suffer under the most hideous state apparatuses and conditions.”
Daily discussed the way in which people lived under Hussein’s rule and what he believed was his sense of duty to help fix a detrimental situation.
“Don’t forget that human beings have a responsibility to one another and that Americans will always have a responsibility to the oppressed. … So if you have anything to say to me at the end of this reading, let it at least include “˜Good Luck,” he concluded.
Daily’s companions in ROTC said they remember the important role he played in the ROTC program as a mentor and leader. He was also someone who strove to understand the role of the U.S. Army in the world and his role within the Army.
“Mark would always ask the hard questions. He asked “˜why’ about everything,” Chan said. “I was used to doing things the old way. … (His questions) made us understand why we did things the way we did them.”
Coupled with his dedication to his duty was Daily’s thirst for knowledge about all aspects of war and politics.
“He was really driven to (become) as prepared as he could be for being an officer in the army,” Lt. Col. Shawn Buck, a former professor of military science at UCLA, said. “He wasn’t entering the army blindly, he was very thoughtful about it.”
Buck said his fondest memories of Daily were the hours Daily spent talking to him outside of class about books he had read on topics related to the Army or the war in Iraq.
“Mark was really passionate about the things he had learned,” he said.
Daily is the first student of Buck’s to die in service, he said. “I’m heartbroken. He was an amazing young man. … His death is a tragedy for our country. He was going to do great things,” he said.
Some of Daily’s close ROTC friends said his death reminded them of the importance and danger of their jobs.
“(His death) hit me pretty hard,” said Michael Cummings, a UCLA alumnus who knew Daily from the ROTC program.
Cummings said Daily’s death shattered his feeling of invincibility as a young solider.
“It made the war real. All young army soldiers have the sense of, “˜It can’t happen to me,'” he said. “(His death) gave a lot of the training I’m going through right now a very serious, real edge.”
Chan said he is currently studying the type of explosive device that killed Daily in his bomb squad training; Daily’s death reminded him of the importance of his work. “I’ve got to study with that much more vigor; (these explosive devices are) a real and apparent danger,” he said.
Buck said Daily and his wife had discussed what should be done in the case of his death and that Daily had requested a party to celebrate his life.
“That just goes to show how mature he was; he prepared (his family) for this to happen,” Buck said. “He didn’t take a young person attitude (and assume) it wouldn’t happen to him.”
A memorial service for Daily will be held this Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Mariners Church, 5001 Newport Coast Drive, Irvine. The family is accepting donations to fulfill Mark’s wish that his family hold a celebration of his life in Oregon. Checks can be made to Janet Daily and sent to 22 Stonecreek North, Irvine, CA, 92604, care of Jeanne Hunter.