Daniel Price
Gunny Sergeant, United States Marine Corps
June 8, 1985 – July 29, 2012
Age – 27
Holland, MI
Operation Enduring Freedom
1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, Camp Pendleton, CA
Died while conducting combat operations in Badghis province, Afghanistan
While deployed with Team 8232 from H&S Co., 1st MSOB, GySgt. Price was on a routine cordon and search mission near Bala Bokan when his patrol was fired upon from an enemy machine gun position, killing GySgt. Price and another team member.
GySgt. Price’s personal decorations include the Silver Star awarded posthumously in July 2014, Bronze Star with combat V, two Purple Hearts, three Combat Action Ribbons and three Good Conduct Medals
Dan was killed in action while conducting combat operations in Badghis province in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He was assigned to 1st Marine Special Operation Battalion, United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, based at Camp Pendleton California. Dan entered the Marine Corps in July of 2003. While at the School of Infantry, Camp Pendleton, California he checked into 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in Camp Pendleton and then was screened and selected to become a Reconnaissance Marine. Dan attended the Basic Reconnaissance Course in 2004.
Dan’s deployments consisted of six combat tours to include three deployments to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and three tours to Afghanistan to support Operation Enduring Freedom. During his combat service he was meritoriously promoted to Sergeant during a tour to Iraq. Due to Dan’s exceptional performance he was selected to be a part of Marines Special Operations Command (MARSOC) in January of 2008.
During his career, his personal decorations included a Bronze Star with combat V for his heroic combat actions in Afghanistan, a Purple Heart as a result of a combat injury in Afghanistan in July of 2011, a Navy and Marine Achievement Medal, three Good Conduct Medals and three Combat Action Ribbons. Dan was an expert in pistol and rifle marksmanship.
He was remembered by his brothers-in-arms as follows:
My name is Tyler Sytsma, and I severed with Dan in Recon in the 13th MEU deployment back in ’07. I was always inspired by his casual smile despite whatever was going on, his optimism in all circumstances, and his backwoods stories of working on pig farms and stalking crows as a youth. Truly a continual inspiration in my life and it was an honor to have known him.
Tyler
I am so sorry for your loss. I’m very glad that the Lord gave me the privilege to know Dan. I will always fondly remember times spent at coffee, over a beer, or trying to figure out how he could play a game so badly 🙂
The memory I will treasure is hearing his interview with the Consistory at Escondido URC when he and Rachel were being interviewed to become members. It is a tremendous comfort for me to think back to his sure, unwavering testimony to his hope in Jesus Christ alone for his salvation. While we mourn his loss, those words he spoke comfort us with the assurance that he is surely with the Lord, resting from the difficult earthly labors to which he was called, and is blessed with a glory that is beyond our capacity to imagine.
But for those who he leaves behind, his wife, his parents, and his siblings, I pray for you every day. May God comfort you with His grace until you are reunited with Dan in glory. God bless you all.
Bill Godfrey