Notes for: Stephen John Danaher

Died out of state according to Ohio death certifcate index

Submitted on behalf of the Danaher family by Mary Danaher Sikes

Marine Captain Stephen John Danaher was the son of Timothy J Danaher and Margaret Brennan Danaher. He was born in Indianapolis Indiana. Steve was the principle nominee of Senator Frank Lausche and received his appointment while a National Merit Scholar at Chaminade High School in Dayton Ohio. Steve was the eldest of seven children. He entered the Naval Academy Class of 1968 at 17 years old, as one of the youngest plebes in the class.

While receiving his engineering degree from USNA, Steve was a true renaissance man; he played several musical instruments and had a beautiful Irish tenor voice. Whenever he sang Danny Boy, a tear would surely come at the hearing of it. Steve had a deep sense of compassion for all those who suffered injustice in this world. He loved literature,music, flying his "Frog-H47", the Marines and his family. Before leaving for his Viet Nam tour in 1971, he was looking forward to going to graduate school upon his return. He took the GRE exam and earned an unheard of, perfect score.Steve died before his dreams and his promise could be fulfilled and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in April 1972 in the company of squadron mates from HMM 164, and classmates from the Naval Academy. He was 25 years old and received full military honors.

Among his papers, my mother found letters from mothers, fathers and wives of fallen squadron mates. It seems that Steve wrote to every family when someone was lost. One poignant letter was from the mother of his best friend, a fellow pilot, who was blown from the sky in a fireball just a few weeks before Steve would die