This week is the 20th "angelversary" of the death of Green Beret Captain Daniel W. Eggers.
Angelversary is what the Gold Star Mothers call the date of their children's death while in service to their country.
On Memorial Day the deaths of Daniel W. Eggers and hundreds of thousands of other U.S. servicemen and women were honored in ceremonies across Southwest Florida, the state and the country.
William Eggers, Daniel's father, came Monday to the observance conducted by the Coral Ridge Cemetery in Cape Coral and gathered with hundreds of others to pay their respects.
He wasn't one of the scheduled speakers at the annual ceremony. But when Eggers was given the opportunity, his words, his emotions, and his memories, still rang with power.
"I think we honored, on behalf of the Gold Star Mothers, we honored the audience here," the elder Eggers said. "Because it's a great thing for patriots to come out on a day like this and to see how many actually were here. And that really puffs up the minds of our Gold Stars."
"I've been coming to the cemetery here for 37 years. And (in) May 2004, it changed the whole thing. When I came here the day of his passing, it became a hell of a lot more personal."William Eggers, about his son, Captain Daniel W. Eggers, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2004
William Eggers said his son, a Cape Coral native and a captain in the U.S. Army, was 28 when he was killed in action near Kandahar, Afghanistan, during Operation Enduring Freedom.
"And 10 months after that, we got called by the (Department of Defense) and they wanted the one of my daughters to go to ... a ceremony. We didn't know what it was all about," Eggers explained. "We did find out that the U.S. government had a ceremony on 20, March 2005, 10 months after my son passed away. The compound in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan, was renamed Camp Eggers on 20, March 2005."
The facility was a more than 10-acre, $400 million-plus military camp, Eggers said.
"We don't know how, why or who. But it kind of took the bite out of everything to have something like that," he said. "In honor of our son. That's going to be a great part of his legacy."
The Coral Ridge Cemetery Memorial Day Ceremony has been ongoing for several decades. The ceremony is a cross-section of local veterans from all services, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard.
The event includes heartfelt speeches, mournful military music, presenting and retiring of the "colors", as well as multiple rifle shots of respect and the final Taps bugle call.
Eggers said the ceremony has always meant something to him and now it means so much more.
"I've been coming to the cemetery here for 37 years," he said. "And (in) May 2004, it changed the whole thing. When I came here the day of his passing, it became a hell of a lot more personal."
Eggers said the Coral Ridge ceremony allows people to put in their civic duty, to pray for the fallen.
"And I when I was speaking, I saw the audience, how they were thinking, trying to process what I was talking ... about. And I guess it all made sense that I got a good clap after that," he said.
Alyse Bollheimer, representing the Coral Ridge Funeral Home & Cemetery, said the annual ceremony is a way to express love and honor to the veterans here in Cape Coral, and especially to the Gold Star families who have lost their loved ones in the service.
"It's quite a big event. We usually have at least 500 to 600 people here to celebrate our veterans and, and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and it's really an honor to be a part of that," she said. "It's a unique experience that we get here in our cemetery surrounded by fallen soldiers and service members. But really, we just love to be here for our community."
Capt. Daniel W. Eggers
- Awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Parachutist Badge and the Special Forces Tab.
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