Body of MIA found in Laos nephew of late FF resident
By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal
The late Butch and Irene Larson of Fergus Falls, their daughter Nancy said, would no doubt be pleased that the remains of their POW/MIA nephew Ñ Capt. Benjamin Danielson Ñ have finally been brought home to his hometown of Kenyon in southeastern Minnesota. Danielson, a serviceman during the Vietnam War, had been missing since 1969.
Butch and Irene Larson also were natives of Kenyon.
ÒMy father and mother would no doubt feel like I do, with mixed emotions,Ó Nancy Larson said. ÒAll of our family feels the same way.Ó
An Air Force fighter pilot, Danielson was on a flying mission over Laos on Dec. 5, 1969, when his plane was shot down. DanielsonÕs son, Brian, was only 18 months old when his father departed for Vietnam. Today, Brian is an Iraq veteran and also a lieutenant commander Navy pilot. The son was part of the POW search in Laos that eventually found his fatherÕs remains.
Bone fragments were a DNA match.
Capt. Benjamin DanielsonÕs widow, Mary Danielson-Gates, and the late soldierÕs mother, 90-year-old Evelyn Danielson Gunderson, also are relieved that the former Air Force pilot now is home and will have a final resting place in Minnesota.
A service for those who searched for Benjamin Danielson will be held at 3:30 p.m. June 15 at Holden Lutheran Church in rural Kenyon. His funeral will be held at 2 p.m. June 16 at First Lutheran Church, Kenyon.
Butch Larson, the late soldierÕs uncle, was a survivor of the Bataan Death March during World War II. He later worked for Otter Tail Power Company in Fergus Falls.
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