If you have any questions, additional biographical information, personal remembrances, or photographs you would like to contribute, please contact the History Project Manager via this Email Link.

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They Say, our deaths are not ours, they are yours, they will mean what you make of them. They say, we leave you our deaths, give them some meaning. Archibald MacLeish poet and WWI veteran.

         At 1930 hours (7:30PM), on 25 May 1968, SGT Thompson contacted Battalion TOC and advised them C Company Convoy Escort, “Available 20,”was en route from Long Binh Post to the Bear Cat, 9th Infantry Division Base Camp with two Armored Personnel Carriers and one gun jeep.

        Twenty-eight minutes later a Viet Cong force of unknown strength opened fire on his escort team from hidden positions along the roadway at Grid Coordinates, YS 123971, with small arms, automatic weapons, and RPG’s (Rocket Propelled Grenades) resulting in two immediate casualties.

        The C Company MP’s engaged the hidden enemy in intense fire for several minutes before the enemy broke contact. The escort vehicles immediately started again for the safety of the Bear Cat Base when the hidden enemy again opened up with intense fire on their vehicles.

        As they attempted to remove themselves from the kill zone one of the wounded MP’s was knocked from an APC and the escort team had to return to recover their fallen comrade. After making a successful recovery of the wounded MP the vehicles finally made it out of the kill zone and into the Bear Cat Base at 2028 hours (8:28PM), to deliver their wounded to the hospital.

        The wounded C Company MP’s were: PFC Howard E. Doran, punctured eardrum; SP/4 Thomas E. Walker, shrapnel wound to the jaw; PFC John R. Hollander, shrapnel wound in both knees; PFC Daniel J. Flynn, serious shrapnel wounds requiring an emergency tracheotomy.

        PFC Flynn, age 20, of Kings Park, NY, would die of his wounds within several hours. He served only 20 days in Vietnam.

        On Tuesday, 28 May 1968, a Memorial Mass was held at the 89th MP Group Chapel for PFC Flynn.

On Memorial Day, 30 May 1968, at 0800 hours memorial services were held at the 89th MP Group Chapel for SSG Wilkens, SP/4 Mason, PFC Neal and PFC Flynn, C Company, who was killed in action 25 May. < Click on the Memorial Services Program Icon to view the program pamphlet pages.

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        PFC Flynn graduated  from Kings Park High School in 1966, where he lettered in three sports, basketball, soccer and  baseball.

        In his memory Kings Park, NY named a sports award, scholarship and the baseball fields (Flynns Fields) for him.
 
        PFC Flynn was carrying on a military tradition when he enlisted, his father a World War II veteran, was wounded on Guadalcanal where he lost and eye. After his discharge he worked for veterans through the American Legion for the rest of his life.

"Paying My Respects" SP/4 Allan M. Portnoy, B Company & 615th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion, October 1966 to October 1967.

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        PFC Danny Flynn drove an Armored Personnel Carrier during the war in Vietnam. He had been in Vietnam for 19 days when he volunteered to take a sick buddy's tour of duty. On that fateful night, May 25, 1968, an enemy rocket killed Flynn. He was 20 years old.

        Flynn was a native of Kings Park, N.Y. He was buried with full military honors at Pinelawn Cemetery there. He was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously. A Kings Park baseball field was named in his honor. But the most important tribute to Flynn is carried out by a local middle school. They keep hope alive by teaching young people how important Memorial Day is.

        Every year, 5th and 6th graders write letters to Flynn's mother. Through the battlefield death of Danny Flynn, new generations are learning about patriotic values. Their notes to Flynn's mother are short, but poignant. "When I say the Pledge of Allegiance, I will remember Danny Flynn," writes one student. "Bringing books to the Kings Park Library will help me focus on the sacrifice Danny Flynn made for me," reflects another.

        The children of that middle school wouldn't understand Memorial Day if someone hadn't taught them that freedom isn't free. They continue to learn that America's fallen heroes expressed their faith in democracy by committing the most selfless act of all.

        Each of us must instill in young people the importance of Memorial Day. Edited from an article, “Remembering the reason we observe Memorial Day, By Butch Miller, American Legion National Commander, 28 May 1999, The Stripe, Walter Reed Medical Center.

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--- General / Personal ---
Last name: FLYNN
First name: DANIEL JOSEPH
Home of Record (official): KINGS PARK
State (official): NY
Date of Birth: Friday, February 6, 1948
Sex: Male
Race: Caucasian
Marital Status: Single

--- Military ---
Branch: Army
Rank: PFC
Serial Number: 11829142
Component: Regular
Pay grade: E3
MOS (Military Occupational Specialty code): 51B10
Carpentry And Masonry Specialist

--- Action ---
Start of Tour: Sunday, May 5, 1968
Date of Casualty: Saturday, May 25, 1968
Age at time of loss: 20
Casualty type: (A2) Hostile, died of wounds
Reason: Artillery, rocket, mortar (Ground casualty)
Country: South VietNam
Province: Bien Hoa
The Wall: Panel 69W - Row 003

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