Captain MacDaniel

MacDaniel is a United States Army officer who served during the Vietnam War as member of the Special Forces.

History
MacDaniel held the rank of captain (O-3). He was the second-in-command to Col. Kirby. He was first seen attending an officers briefing at Fort Bragg alongside Kirby. The two also went on to attend a press conference between media reporters and a select group of Special Forces members for a Q&A session.

Captain MacDaniel was an intelligent, professional officer who retain constant focus on his tasks. He joined Col. Kirby in a deployment to Vietnam as part of the Colonel's A-Team. The A-Team detachment was sent to Camp A-107. There, the team met with Capt. Coleman and Kirby introduced MacDaniel as Coleman's replacement. Coleman was pleased to hear this as he was due to return home soon.

Action
Captain MacDaniel became the full-time replacement sooner than expected after the camp was hit by mortar fire in a harassment procedure by nearby Viet-Cong soldiers. In the attack, Capt. Coleman was killed in his sleep while in the Team House.

After Captain Coleman's death, Captain MacDaniel went on to worked in concert with Coleman's counterpart Capt. Nim, a Vietnamese officer. The two directed the camp operations whenever Col. Kirby was away. The camp was attacked one night by the Viet-Cong during Kirby's absent. MacDaniel sent a message with Sgt. Muldoon to pass on to Kirby, expressing the severity of the situation. Kirby quickly returned to the camp to better assess the situation. Meanwhile the attack on Camp 2-9er Savoy broke out when the enemy opened with mortar fire, striking several points within the camp perimeter, killing Lt. Sachs during the volley. Captain MacDaniel and Captain Nim observed the results of the camp's own mortar crews returning fire. Nim confirmed Mortar Bed #1 manned by Sgt. Petersen, Sgt. Watson and Vietnamese Sgt. Sooby, was on target with their mortar fire. MacDaniel relayed the hit confirmation to Bed #1 and ordered three more mortar rounds specifying the use of WP. Midway during the battle, Colonel Kirby's helicopter came into view of the watch tower Capt. MacDaniel and Capt. Nim were stationed at. MacDaniel raised Kirby on the radio, addressing him by the codename "Bulldog". Midway through their radio chatter, the helicopter was shot down. Capt. MacDaniel directed a rescue party to the Colonel's position. Later in the fight, Captain MacDaniel ordered an air strike to counter the oncoming numbers of Viet-Cong soldiers storming the camp defenses.

By dawn, the camp was nearly overrun. During this point, a mortar struck the watch tower Captain MacDaniel, Colonel Kirby and Captain Nim were in. MacDaniel and Kirby were able to retreat from the downed tower, leaving behind a vengeful Captain Nim who was determined to destroy as many of the enemy as possible.

By the battle's end, Camp 2-9er Savoy was in ruins from mortars and machine gun fire ordered by a gunship that "broke the back" of the enemy army, causing their retreat. Captain MacDaniel was last seen in camp with a minor head injury and his left arm in a sling. He issued orders to Sgt. Muldoon to set up sentry outposts while the camp was being salvaged. This captain was not seen after this point, suggesting he spent his future time in a hospital ward in recovery. It is likely Camp 2-9er Savoy was abandoned as it was poorly defensible, largely due to construction never being completed. In that scenario, Captain MacDaniel was likely reassigned to other operations after his eventual recovery.

Trivia

 * Captain MacDaniel was played by frequent John Wayne movie castmate Edward Faulkner.
 * This was the first military role in which Edward Faulkner played an army captain. The second time he played a captain was in John Wayne's post-American Civil War western The Undefeated in 1969. He played a Confederate Army Captain named Henderson.