Master Sgt. William L. McDaniel II
Died: Feb. 22, 2002
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Master Sgt. William L. McDaniel, 36, was a pararescueman assigned to Echo Company, 320th Special Tactics Squadron, part of the 353rd Special Operations Group.
McDaniel, also a flight superintendent, was killed when the helicopter he was in crashed in the Philippines while conducting exercises related to Operation Enduring Freedom.
As a pararescueman, he was part of Okinawa’s close-knit brotherhood of special operations forces. Pararescuemen train to rescue people at sea and those shot down or trapped behind enemy lines.
McDaniel is survived by his wife, who was pregnant at the time of his death, and a 2-year-old child.
Staff Sgt. Juan M. Ridout
Died: Feb. 22, 2002
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Staff Sgt. Juan M. Ridout, 29, was a pararescueman assigned to Echo Company, 320th Special Tactics Squadron, part of the 353rd Special Operations Group.
Ridout was killed when the helicopter he was in crashed in the Philippines while conducting exercises related to Operation Enduring Freedom.
He had prior combat rescue experience. Ridout was part of the rescue of an F-16 pilot who was shot down in Kosovo during Operation Allied Force, for which he was nominated as the 320th Pararescueman of the Year in 1999.
Ridout, a native of Corpus Christi, Texas, is remembered as the unit’s jokester, a man who relished his job and had a love for life and for his girlfriend.