WEBVTT 00:00.305 --> 00:03.388 (somber piano music) 00:03.542 --> 00:07.459 - It's a family nobody wants to be a member of. 00:07.657 --> 00:08.574 But we are. 00:14.499 --> 00:17.249 ^Enjoyed sports, normal boy stuff, 00:18.581 --> 00:20.566 ^but he was always makin' people laugh. 00:20.566 --> 00:22.649 ^Very good sense of humor. 00:23.541 --> 00:25.209 - He was 18 when he joined. 00:25.209 --> 00:27.318 They had a recruiter at his school, 00:27.318 --> 00:30.507 ^and he came home and said, mom, I want to join the Navy. 00:30.507 --> 00:32.493 ^And I was hesitant about that, and so I went 00:32.493 --> 00:35.159 ^and talked to the recruiter, and I remember telling him, 00:35.159 --> 00:36.941 ^make sure you take care of my son. 00:36.941 --> 00:38.691 And he said, we will. 00:39.624 --> 00:42.179 - When Brendan told me he wanted to be a SEAL, 00:42.179 --> 00:44.330 ^I was happy for him because I knew it was something 00:44.330 --> 00:47.452 ^that he wanted to do, and I wanted to be supportive. 00:47.452 --> 00:50.369 ^But at the same time, I was scared. 00:50.539 --> 00:52.413 - [Lisa] I think he wanted to be where the action is 00:52.413 --> 00:55.830 and out in the field, and helping others. 00:56.319 --> 00:57.220 - [Manuel] Yeah, I think so. 00:57.220 --> 01:00.556 He loved to help people, and that's what he did. 01:00.556 --> 01:01.973 - He was excited. 01:02.202 --> 01:05.230 I mean, as soon as he got, received his Trident, 01:05.230 --> 01:07.329 he was ready to go and deploy. 01:07.329 --> 01:10.234 I was ready for him to go because I felt 01:10.234 --> 01:11.900 that the sooner he got over there, 01:11.900 --> 01:16.067 the sooner he was gonna be able to get back to me. 01:16.354 --> 01:18.837 - It was, what really was hard on us because we went there. 01:18.837 --> 01:23.004 You know, we took him to his ship and watched it sail off 01:24.351 --> 01:27.013 and saw a tear fall from his eye. 01:27.013 --> 01:31.180 - He deployed on March 9th, which is my birthday, in 2010, 01:31.485 --> 01:35.626 but I'll never forget those few moments before we left 01:35.626 --> 01:38.363 that day, and you know, we always had the same thing 01:38.363 --> 01:41.227 where we never wanted to say goodbye to each other 01:41.227 --> 01:43.872 cause that seemed very permanent and very final. 01:43.872 --> 01:46.705 We would always say see you later. 01:47.317 --> 01:49.614 - [News Anchor] Damaged in a terrorist attack in Yemen. 01:49.614 --> 01:51.535 - [News Anchor] American sailors were killed. 01:51.535 --> 01:53.118 - I went into work. 01:53.331 --> 01:56.361 I walked in, and I looked at the television 01:56.361 --> 01:58.594 because it was on, and it was saying breaking news, 01:58.594 --> 02:00.378 you know, attack on the USS Cole. 02:00.378 --> 02:03.722 And so I went downstairs, and I see two men 02:03.722 --> 02:04.898 come and getting out of the car. 02:04.898 --> 02:07.892 Both of them had uniforms, and I know from TV 02:07.892 --> 02:09.534 that when they come to your house, 02:09.534 --> 02:11.195 they're not coming to tell you good news. 02:11.195 --> 02:13.308 And that's when they told me, Mrs. McDaniels, 02:13.308 --> 02:17.475 they said, I have to tell you that your son is dead. 02:20.942 --> 02:23.008 So that's how we found out. 02:23.008 --> 02:26.925 October 12th, in the evening, yep, he had died. 02:29.395 --> 02:33.419 - So this would have been their 59th combat mission 02:33.419 --> 02:37.336 on that deployment to Afghanistan, and they had 02:37.667 --> 02:40.386 a really successful deployment that they were ready 02:40.386 --> 02:43.549 to pass off to another SEAL team that came in. 02:43.549 --> 02:46.268 On that mission, he lost his life there 02:46.268 --> 02:48.851 in Afghanistan in a helicopter. 02:50.727 --> 02:54.894 - They were in a CH46, and they, it was shot down. 02:58.582 --> 03:00.499 And all seven perished. 03:06.219 --> 03:09.067 (somber piano music) 03:09.067 --> 03:11.686 - I mean, it's very bittersweet because, 03:11.686 --> 03:15.103 of course, I would much prefer Brendan to be here today 03:15.103 --> 03:17.559 and every day going forward, but it also makes me 03:17.559 --> 03:21.264 very proud cause I don't know many people out there 03:21.264 --> 03:22.610 that would be willing. 03:22.610 --> 03:24.010 I don't even know if I would be willing 03:24.010 --> 03:26.997 to go out there and put my life on the line. 03:26.997 --> 03:31.157 ^- First off, you know, you got your son buried out there, 03:31.157 --> 03:34.907 ^and then you see many others buried up there. 03:35.760 --> 03:38.093 ^When it's so many, it's sad. 03:40.667 --> 03:42.772 - When we buried Manuel there, 03:42.772 --> 03:46.855 he was the last row, and then 10 years later now, 03:46.980 --> 03:49.897 there's like 15 more rows of graves 03:51.436 --> 03:55.186 that people have served and lost their lives. 03:57.001 --> 03:58.656 - [Dianne] I couldn't ask for a better son. 03:58.656 --> 04:00.739 He was really a good son. 04:03.474 --> 04:05.001 I mean, I can't think of anything bad 04:05.001 --> 04:08.584 I can say about him cause there wasn't any. 04:14.704 --> 04:18.148 - We're proud of him and everything he did. 04:18.148 --> 04:20.148 (cries) 04:20.151 --> 04:22.547 He saved a lot of lives while he was here. 04:22.547 --> 04:25.630 (somber piano music) 04:31.760 --> 04:33.874 ^- My perspective in life has really changed, 04:33.874 --> 04:36.707 ^and I value and appreciate people, 04:37.170 --> 04:39.780 ^and I appreciate the chance to just 04:39.780 --> 04:42.030 be able to experience life, 04:42.465 --> 04:44.433 and even though it's a different version of life, 04:44.433 --> 04:47.947 ^it's still something that I'm thankful for, and I know 04:47.947 --> 04:50.907 ^I have that chance because men like Brendan 04:50.907 --> 04:53.626 ^and men and women that serve in the military 04:53.626 --> 04:55.476 ^selflessly put their lives on the line 04:55.476 --> 04:59.160 ^each and every day so that I'm able to do that. 04:59.160 --> 05:02.270 ^- I'm glad he did what he did as far as serving 05:02.270 --> 05:05.020 ^cause that's what he wanted to do 05:05.230 --> 05:07.511 ^because I wouldn't want anyone else to go through 05:07.511 --> 05:10.464 ^what I went through and the other family members 05:10.464 --> 05:14.047 ^went through because we went through a lot. 05:14.784 --> 05:16.926 ^- I don't want anybody to understand it 05:16.926 --> 05:19.502 ^because I think in order for you to truly understand it, 05:19.502 --> 05:21.560 you have to experience it yourself. 05:21.560 --> 05:24.984 ^So I want them to just see Gold Star family members 05:24.984 --> 05:28.035 as strong and resilient and wanting nothing more 05:28.035 --> 05:31.785 but them to carry on their loved ones legacy. 05:33.889 --> 05:35.821 We don't want them to be forgotten. 05:35.821 --> 05:39.154 We want them to stay alive in our memory 05:39.993 --> 05:44.160 and in the memory of generations well beyond our years. 05:45.763 --> 05:48.930 (somber piano music)