Who was Edward McDaniel? American Legion aims to find out more about its namesake

American Legion Post #22, along with its Sons of the American Legion (S.A.L.) Squadron and auxiliary members, is on a mission to find out more about the person for whom the post is named, Edward Harry McDaniel.

“When I arrived in Pahrump four years ago and transferred my Legion membership, I inquired about our namesake and was surprised that no one knew anything about him,” Larry Van Rickley explained for the Pahrump Valley Times. “I’m working to rectify that.”

Van Rickley is the commander of the S.A.L. Squadron #22 and S.A.L. vice detachment commander for Southern Nevada. He also has some experience with research as a member of a historical society, so naturally, he is eager to learn all he can about McDaniel’s past.

“We’ve been looking into it for the last couple of years and we haven’t found a whole lot,” he detailed. “I have found out that he was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam. We have also found his obituary. His wife, Jacqueline, was also a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and is buried next to him.”

Van Rickley said while he has been able to gather this basic information about McDaniel, what the post really wants is a deeper understanding of the man himself and the life he lived.

“Our goal is to find other members of the family and develop a history of Mr. McDaniel. We’re hoping through media exposure, we might locate his next of kin or others who knew him. Hopefully, by putting it out there in the community, we can find out more about him.”

McDaniel was born Sept. 6, 1925 and died Jan. 4, 1994. According to his obituary, he lived the last five years of his life in Pahrump. This year marks the 30th anniversary of his death and what would have been his 99th birthday.

To honor this occasion and bring attention to the search for more information about McDaniel, the S.A.L. will host a graveside birthday celebration next month. The entire community is welcome to attend.

“And it’s kind of a two-fold mission,” Van Rickley added. “To find out about Mr. McDaniel as well as to advertise ourselves.”

The American Legion, S.A.L. Squadron and Post #22 Auxiliary are always looking to recruit more members to their ranks. The Legion itself is for current and former military service members while the S.A.L. is for the sons and grandsons of veterans and the auxiliary is geared toward the spouses, grandmothers, mothers, sisters and female descendants of veterans. Annual membership ranges from $30 to $45.

Upcoming project

As the organization looks to grow, it is also eyeing a new community project that will undoubtedly provide a very positive impact for the area’s veteran population.

“The Legion had a trailer, like a hot dog cart, that was in bad shape,” Van Rickley detailed. “Well, I got a hold of it and the S.A.L. fixed it up. We painted it, cleaned it up, got it registered. And we’re going to use that as a mobile workshop to go around about once a month or so to help a local veteran who needs some light home repairs or yard maintenance.”

The group is working to fit out the trailer with the necessary tools and equipment to tackle these tasks and donations toward that end would be greatly appreciated, Van Rickley noted, as would volunteers who can offer expertise to the project.

The graveside ceremony for McDaniel will take place at 10 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 6 at the Chief Tecopa Cemetery.

For more information or to provide details on McDaniel contact Van Rickley at Nevada.SAL22@gmail.com or call 775-910-2041.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com