George T. Mcdaniel Jr.

George Thornhill McDaniel Jr., (Captain, USN-Ret.) passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on Sunday, July 24, 2011, at the age of 95. He was preceded in death by his wife of 68 years, the former Jeanne Meads McDaniel of Norfolk, his father George Thornhill McDaniel and his mother, Jenny Darby Glass McDaniel of Lynchburg. He is survived by his children, Darby McDaniel Atkins and her husband Donald Edward Atkins of Lynchburg: George Thornhill  (Thorn) McDaniel, III and his wife Andrea Poynter of Richmond; and Duval Meade McDaniel and his wife Lucia Perkins of Katy, Texas; his grandchildren, Carey Atkins Griffin and her husband Charles Webster Griffin, Kimberly Atkins Harlow, Donald Edward Atkins, Jr. Katherine Poynter McDaniel, Christopher Thornhill McDaniel, and Darby Meade McDaniel; and his great-granddaughter Taylor Brooks Harlow.

Mr. McDaniel was a graduate of Lynchburg High School and a 1939 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy where he played quarterback on the Navy football team.  In October 1942, he served on the destroyer USS Smith during the Battle of Santa Cruz in the South Pacific.  During the battle, the Smith was hit by a Japanese torpedo bomber that deliberately crashed into the ship. Despite extensive damage and the loss of nearly sixty crewmen his citation states that, \"while being subjected to determined enemy aerial attacks, Lieutenant McDaniel, with utter disregard for his own personal safety, led a fire party into the forward part of his ship, then enveloped in flames from burning gasoline and powder, and coolly and efficiently assisted in extinguishing the conflagration, therefore enabling his ship to return to action against the enemy. For extraordinary heroism in action against the enemy on October 26, 1942\" Lieutenant McDaniel was awarded the Navy Cross.   In 1945 he assumed command of the destroyer USS Shields in Inchon, Korea and remained on China Station until the spring of 1946.  From 1946 until 1950, he served as an instructor and backfield coach at the U.S. Naval Academy.   Subsequently, he served two tours as commander of the destroyer USS New in the Mediterranean and a tour as Executive Officer of the cruiser USS Roanoke when she was transferred from the Atlantic to the Pacific Fleet.  He served shore duty as Commanding Officer of the Naval Schools Command in Norfolk, Virginia and was the U.S. Navy\"™s student at the Royal Navy Staff College in England.  After completing the Navy Staff College in 1956, he was assigned as Navy Liaison Officer to the US 7th Army in Stuttgart, Germany.  Captain McDaniel finished his Navy career with tours of duty at sea and at the Pentagon where, among other assignments, he was assigned to the Office of International Security Affairs, Department of Defense.  In 1963, he retired from the Navy and returned with his family to his native Lynchburg.  He was employed in Lynchburg from 1963 until 1985 by the Nuclear Power Division of Babcock & Wilcox.  He was an avid golfer and was a member of Boonsboro Country Club where he played golf until he was 92 years old. 

A memorial service by Reverends Jeffrey Liddy and William Watson will be held on Thursday, July 28, 2011, at two-thirty p.m. in the Weissert Chapel at Westminster Canterbury, 501 V.E.S. Road, Lynchburg, Virginia. The American Legion Post 16 will present flags.  A reception will follow in the Hume Room.

 

Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Lynchburg, is assisting the family, 434-237-9424.