SPC Daniel "Lucas" Elliot
July 18. 1989-July 15, 2011
SPC Daniel “Lucas” Elliott, of Youngsville, NC, died on July 15, 2011, in Basra, Iraq, three days before his 22nd birthday. Lucas was a MP in the Army Reserve, attached to the 805th MP CO, located in Cary, NC. In 2009, he volunteered for deployment with the 810th MP CO out of Tampa, Florida, and completed a tour in Iraq. Upon his return, he reattached to the 805th and deployed with the 805th in May 2011.
Lucas was an Eagle Scout. At the age of 12, Lucas began shooting on a high-powered rifle team sponsored by Sir Walter Gun Club. Lucas’s passion for shooting turned into a skill which earned him several medals and awards through both the State Games of North Carolina and the NRA’s Civilian Marksmanship Program.
Lucas was an avid hunter and fisherman and his dream was to have his own TV hunting show. Lucas was an adrenaline junkie! He loved the outdoors and hunting and fishing. He joined the Army Reserve because Mama wanted him to go to college, but he volunteered for a deployment as quickly as he could because that’s what he was training to do. In a conversation three days before he was killed, he outlined his plans to get serious about college when he came back from that deployment so that he could make his dreams come true. He had decided to apply to transfer to UNC-Wilmington to major in journalism and film so he could learn all he needed about having his own outdoors show.
Lucas is buried in Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery. Prior to his first deployment, we were attending a family briefing. One of the workshops we were in stressed the importance of having those “difficult” conversations with your service member about what their wishes were “just in case something happened.” Lucas loved country music and one of his favorite songs was Trace Adkins’ “Arlington.” He loved the symbolism of the lyrics and the thought that he’d be in the best of company there. Of course, we never thought it would happen to us, but when it did, it was his choice where he would be buried.
