PALMDALE, Calif.–By the shank of the afternoon, by the time shot glasses of Jack Daniels were distributed for the toast, there were still dozens of kin and comrades gathered to remember a man they knew as the spirit of the cavalry, a fine non-commissioned officer, an Army professional, but mostly, great husband, family man and friend.
Dan was a guy who loved his bride Valerie Jane Morales like life. And he was a big man who loved a little dog named Quilla. Also, another little dog named Roxy.
The big man, and Dan was a big man, just loved little dogs.
He also loved his MOS, his military occupational specialty, which was tanks. It was Gen. George S. Patton who devised the insignia for armor, the crossed sabers of cavalry with an advancing tank on the emblem. Dan was rated as a “Master Gunner,” and so, master tanker. He served in armor companies, and in armored cavalry, similar but different tank-related units. He would even express gratitude by saying, “Tank You.”
And the week before Memorial Day was the time to remember Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Morales, formerly of 1/18th Cavalry, of Charlie Co. 1/185th Armor, and husband of Valerie Janes Morales, who loves him beyond the end of time.
Before the whiskey toast was lifted, Dan’s true friend and comrade, Staff Sgt. Eric Laufer, offered a few words, choking back tears the way that soldiers do when they remember their brothers-in-arms.
Dan, really still a young man in the prime of his early 50s, fought that last battle with cancer, and fought it bravely.
After the memorial service, after the flag-draped casket with honor guard and rifle volley at Bakersfield National Cemetery, after the catered meal at reception, Laufer had a few words.
To the wide circle of family and friends that included many who had not actually served in the military, in a room at VFW Post 3552 where many had served in the military, Laufer offered up a little a few Army core values that described his friend.
“In the Army, there is an acronym for everything,” he said. “Everything is an acronym.”
LDERSHIP is the acronym that stands for Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage. Don’t worry, they just didn’t have an “E” or “A” in the acronym, but it all works.
One by one, Laufer offered examples of Dan’s embodiment of those qualities. And he did not sugar coat it.
“Everyone knew he had a temper,” he said. “But that temper was his passion, his passion for life.”
Dan Morales shifted from Army career to a career of selfless service as an advocate for veterans, veterans particularly needing care in the Antelope Valley.
Dan found post-military employment at the Vet Center in Palmdale, the counseling center affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Vet Centers are different than many VA care and mental health programs. Every vet center is supposed to be staffed by veterans, combat veterans particularly.
Dan’s hire as office manager professionalized the operation, recalled Gerry Rice, the combat infantryman who worked as a therapist counseling veterans and family members with mental health issues related to their military service.
“Dan made sure everyone was greeted at the door, and made to feel welcome, that this is a safe place,” Rice recalled. “You’d be surprised that that doesn’t happen everywhere, but Dan made sure it did.”
If everyone knew that Sgt. 1st Class Morales had a bark, they also would learn, over time, that “he was a big teddy bear” inside.
In our family, we witnessed examples of Dan’s understanding of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage.
When my son, Garrett, transitioned from active duty Marine to the National Guard after fighting in Fallujah, Iraq and Afghanistan, it was Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Morales who helped him make that transition.
Dan was the “NCOIC” of the “rear detachment” at the Palmdale Armory while Charlie Co. 1/185th was deploying to Iraq.
There go the acronyms again. NCOIC means non-commissioned officer in charge, effectively, in command. Such professionals can be good guys, or miserable wretches, or somewhere in between. Dan was one of the good guys.
My son needed a fresh start after the Marines, and a change of scene from “back on the block.” One kind of sergeant could block a move like that, just to maintain unit numbers. It is always a numbers game. Not Dan. He signed paperwork that seamlessly shifted my son’s home organization to a fresh start in a fresh state when he moved, continued to serve and thrived.
“I will never forget what he did,” my son says. “Every time I would thank him, he would say ‘It was nothing,’ but it was a big deal.”
Finally, Dan was a family man. He met Valerie Jane later in life, and knew she was the one. They became what the Army would call “a single unit.”
“I told him, ‘If you hurt my mother, I’ll have to kill you,’” said Tara Gonzales, who would come to love him as simply the best of “step dads.”
One of the healing functions of the VA Vet Center in Palmdale came to be known as “food therapy.”
“If you feed people, they feel an immediate connection, and that becomes part of the healing process,” Rice, the former infantryman, scout dog handler, and seasoned therapist said.
A former team leader and counselor at the Vet Center, Sarah Belliss, was instrumental in making “food therapy” part of the center’s mission. Joining in that mission were the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Blue Star Mothers, but a key part of the enterprise was Valerie Janes (CQ) Morales, with her friend, Mary Baker Woolford, and they spent barbecue days at the center in a production line of grilling to rival any Navy mess or Army chow hall. Always, moving about, would be Dan, checking the details, raffling off prizes, making people happy.
Bellis said she believed she misheard — or that Dan had a pronunciation problem — when he would say “Tank You,” instead of “Thank You.”
But that was core to his Army values as well. Dan was not just a tanker who loved armor and armor cavalry. He was a master gunner.
“That guy shot an 890 score,” infantry grunt Rice recalled. “He knew that tank inside out. He knew everything about it.”
So, Memorial Day weekends will come, and they will go, and they are assigned to remembering. We remember.
“Tank You” Dan.