i worked with Danny for about a year at kalahari in the gameroom, he was always good for a laugh or someone to talk to if you were having a bad day, he's truely going to be missed!!!
pics of danny are in my photos, i am unable to get them loaded into my blog.
PORTAGE NATIVE KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN
By Jen McCoy, Daily Register | Posted: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 11:45 pm
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Jen McCoy/Daily Register
Just a day after learning that Spc. Daniel Thompson was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, Lisa Thompson (center) finds comfort and strength in her husband, Bob, and Maria Steinke, Daniel's girlfriend. Both Maria and Lisa wear Daniel's sweat shirts, which his mom says she is "never taking off."
The closest that Lisa Thompson could get to her only child Wednesday was to wear one of his favorite oversized sweat shirts.
"I'm never taking if off," she said among tears at her Portage home.
Army Spc. Daniel James Thompson, 24, a 2003 Portage High School graduate who was living in Madison, was killed in action Tuesday by a roadside bomb in Kandajar province in southern Afghanistan.
Thompson is the first Columbia County soldier killed in Afghanistan or Iraq in the current military conflict.
He served in the 32nd Military Police Company, Wisconsin Army National Guard, based in Madison. However, he had been deployed to Afghanistan with a unit out of Illinois.
He was the lead driver of a convoy when an improvised explosive device, or IED, went off. Three other soldiers also were killed. Further details have not been released.
‘It hit me'
Two military chaplains informed Lisa Thompson of her son's death at her workplace, Gordo's Bar & Grill, on Tuesday.
"I had no idea, and then I saw the Gold Star on his shoulder, and it hit me. It was all over," Lisa Thompson said.
Thompson's husband, Bob, met her at work where they cried together, she said. The next step was informing Daniel's longtime girlfriend, Maria Steinke, of his death.
The couple have a house in Madison, where Steinke works as a registered nurse at St. Mary's Hospital. A friend drove Lisa Thompson to the hospital.
"She asked me to meet me in the lobby. I was shaken, and I knew. My head hurt, my stomach hurt," Steinke, 24, said.
"Then, she came back to my house to sleep in Daniel's bed," Lisa Thompson said.
Friends support family
Thompson's body was scheduled to arrive on the East Coast on Wednesday night, Thompson said. The military will identify him by dental records and DNA tests. The family does not know when his body will be back home, but they are scheduling a funeral at which the community will be invited.
More than 60 friends and relatives weaved in and out of Lisa Thompson's home Tuesday, dropping off casseroles, water and doughnuts. The phone never stopped ringing, either, which Lisa Thompson said felt comforting.
"I appreciate that so many people cared, and even if people don't know us, that they respect him for what he did - he died for our country," Thompson said.
"There's a lot of scared young men in the world who are going to end up exactly like our son."
Nick Konzel was best friends with Daniel since the pair were 12 years old.
"He was just a really good guy, someone you'd want to be around all the time," Konzel, 23, said. "I feel empty inside. I don't know what to think, but I know it will hit me soon."
Always happy
Daniel James Thompson was born Aug. 20, 1984.
"He was six pounds, eight ounces and 21 inches long. He was a great baby. I have books and books of pictures," Thompson said.
Daniel joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard during his junior year at PHS.
"It was right after 9/11, and he thought he would be fighting for a cause," Lisa Thompson said.
He graduated from PHS in 2003, and attended MATC in Portage from 2004 to 2006.
"That's where he met Maria, the girl of his dreams. He had great taste," Thompson said.
Steinke was purchasing a textbook for a class when Daniel approached her, and the two were in the same class. Steinke is originally from Poynette.
"He sat in front of me in class so he could turn around and talk to me. He gave me a note with his number on it. He was obviously good looking, very nice and would do anything for anybody," Steinke said. "He was just a good person in and out."
Daniel graduated with a degree in criminal justice and law enforcement in 2006, then went on to work for Brinks Security in Madison. He gave Steinke a sapphire and diamond promise ring two years ago, and the pair have matching silver bands on their right hands.
He lived in Madison starting in 2004 and bought a house with her there in 2008.
Almost home
Thompson trained at Fort Riley, Kan., last August, and left for Afghanistan in November. Thompson pointed to a vase of dried roses near her son's photograph.
"He gave me these roses the day he left and I kept them," Thompson said.
Daniel also got a gift for Steinke before he left, which zoomed around Thompson's house Tuesday, bringing some sense of normalcy.
"This is Diggie. He got him for me before he went over to keep me company," Steinke said.
Lisa Thompson refers to the Boston Terrier as her grandson, but joked that she was hoping for a human one first.
"He was coming here on leave April 5 for two weeks, and then he was going to be home permanently in August," Thompson said. "He would have completed his eight years (under contract) this December."
Daniel's bedroom on Lennon Street has multiple model cars and teddy bears on the shelves.
"I made him that one at Build-A-Bear," Steinke said, pointing to a brown bear holding a heart.
Numerous bags of cookies, magazines and salty snacks sat on Daniel's dresser.
"He gave me a ‘honey-do' list. I was going to send him all this," Lisa Thompson said.
Daniel's charming smile and good nature radiated from him, and he was always happy. He loved cars, playing hockey, his motorcycle, family and friends (and an occasional handful of Gummi Bears). He lived a very clean life, Thompson said, and never lied.
"I was proud of my baby. He never disappointed me, he always smiled. I'm very proud of him," Lisa Thompson said.
A Facebook page of Daniel's has become a memorial for him.
"He was literally the love of my life. Literally," Steinke said. "He'll be missed."
Daniel planned to pursue a career as a police officer or explore his love of photography and art.
The explosion in which Thompson died was the year's deadliest single attack on international forces. An Afghan civilian working with the Americans also died.
The Americans were patrolling with Afghan soldiers.
