Daniel P. Riordan, U.S. Army

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Photo (digitally enhanced) provided by the family.

Hometown: St. Louis, MO
Branch: U.S. Army
Unit: Company D, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas
Military Honors: Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: June 23, 2007 - KIA near Camp Taji, Iraq
Age: 24
Conflict: Iraq War, 2003-2011

Dan Riordan was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on February 17, 1983. When he was five years old, his family—including parents Rick and Jeanine Riordan, older sister Suzanne, and twin brother Nick—moved to St. Louis, Missouri.

His mother recalls that Dan was a premature baby, weighing just four pounds. But he’d grow up to be an athlete and a warrior who served his country.

Dan attended Queen of All Saints Elementary School and already showed early signs of leadership in the Boy Scouts. His Scout leaders told Call Newspapers, “We knew he was going to the military because we would tell him to get the boys in line and he got them in line.”

While at St. John Vianney High School, Riordan took every opportunity to get involved. Besides being a three-sport athlete—football, cross country, and track—he also joined clubs, participated in plays and musicals, and excelled academically.

After graduating high school in 2001, Dan and twin brother Nick enrolled at Southeast Missouri State University together.

That same autumn, on September 11, terrorists linked to the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda staged deadly attacks on U.S. soil, deepening Dan’s commitment to serving his country.

While at the university, Dan accepted a scholarship with the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). He also worked for campus police and the local sheriff’s office while pursuing his bachelor’s degree in General Studies, which he received in 2005.

Riordan spent his summers working with horses on The Night Winds Farm in rural Missouri. His family recalled:

Although he was almost 14 years removed from his childhood in Texas, it was still common to see Dan around Southeast’s campus in Wrangler jeans, a pearl-snap shirt, and a cowboy hat. It was this attire that earned him the nickname “Cowboy Dan.”

Called to service

Riordan felt a strong call to military service and told his family that he dreamed of being a pilot. But less-than-perfect eyesight kept him from pilot training with the Air Force, so he switched to the United States Army through their “Blue to Green” intraservice transfer program.

Commissioned as a second lieutenant, Riordan received infantry training at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia. He was later sent to Fort Hood, Texas, and assigned to Company D (“Demon Company”), 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division—as a tank commander for Blue Platoon.

His “Cowboy Dan” nickname was now “Lieutenant Dan.”

Riordan’s unit was sent to Iraq in October 2006 for a 15-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Demon Company was stationed at Camp Taji, a sprawling military base 20 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq’s capital and largest city. Riordan received a battlefield promotion to the rank of first lieutenant.

His family said when Riordan left for Iraq, he told his mother, “This is what I am called to do.” He was a born protector. According to his twin brother Nick, Dan wanted to have a career in law enforcement after his military career.

1LT Riordan told his family that “Demon Company is to be the tip of the spear to pave the way for our mission.” He believed that he and his unit were “truly bringing empowerment and freedom to the men, women, and children of Iraq.”

Larry Keller, 1LT Riordan’s former principal, told the Associated Press that Riordan sent emails almost weekly to his old high school, writing about his soldiers and their dangerous work.

Ultimate sacrifice

On June 23, 2007, Riordan and his platoon were on patrol near Camp Taji when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near his vehicle. 1LT Daniel P. Riordan, age 24, was killed instantly.

Three of his fellow soldiers and his Iraqi interpreter, known as “Eagle,” were also lost in the massive explosion: SGT Joel A. House, 22, of Lee, Maine; SGT Jimy M. Malone, 23, of Wills Point, Texas; and SPC Derek A. Calhoun, 23, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

1LT Riordan was laid to rest with full military honors in his hometown, among his fellow soldiers at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery (Section N, Site 225).

1LT Riordan’s family established a Lt. Daniel P. Riordan Scholarship Fund, awarded annually to a St. John Vianney High School student “who represents the qualities of faith, honor, and service.”

On November 5, 2015, the U.S. Congress approved H.R. 342, a bill to officially dedicate a St. Louis U.S. Post Office as the “Lt. Daniel P. Riordan Post Office.”