Michael Danylek had only been home from Iraq for about six weeks when he was told that he would be redeployed.
But this was going to be a different kind of mission than any he had ever experienced.
As a staff sergeant with the U.S. Air Force, Danylek, 31, was a team leader in Iraq for an explosive ordinance disposal squad during his six-month tour.
The Auburn High School graduate, class of 1995, left last week for Vietnam, where he will use his expertise in explosives to help a new team search for a piece of history.
For the next two months, Danylek will be looking for possible remains at a crash site from the Vietnam War.
He will advise the crew when they come across an explosive device - such as an old grenade or mine - while they are searching.
The mission, which is also being carried out by linguists, an archaeologist, a medic and some troops provided by the Army, Navy and Marines, is like something straight out of the History Channel, Danylek said.
“My job will be to do a surface clearance for any type of (explosive) ordinance,” Danylek said during a phone conversation the night before leaving from Hawaii. “Then we'll start an archeological dig, looking for dog tags, bone fragments, dental work or any other sort of identification.”
Danylek said he could not get into specifics about the nature or location of the site, but he said he would be staying in a hotel as well as camping for 40 days straight while in the field. His team will also have to do some investigative work that will include talking with the locals and working with the Vietnam military, he said.
Danylek said he will have a hard time being away again from his wife, Nichole Remaley-Danylec, and their two-year-old son, Lucas, who live in Tacoma, Wash. But these types of missions are highly coveted in the Air Force, he said. When he joined the service in 1997 after attending Finger Lakes Community College for two years, he had no idea he would be part of something like this.
“I didn't even really know that (the Air Force) was involved in these types of missions,” Danylek said. “To be able to go to a country where I haven't traveled and actually talk to the locals, to see the culture and see the people, is something that will be worthwhile.”
His time in Vietnam will also be a nice change of pace from his former duties, he said. He will be wearing civilian clothes, right down to his boots. He will also be using non-military camping gear while he is in the field. And while there is still a possibility of coming in contact with dangerous devices, the explosives he might see were not put there to trick him or kill him, Danylek said.
“There is not an uncertainty about the ordinances, as opposed to when you find them in Iraq,” he said. “If we start digging and find something, it is what it is. I can walk down there, and this is not going to jump out and get me without me doing something to it.”
Danylek said he also knows there are aspects of this trip that go beyond himself. He has two uncles in Georgia who served during the Vietnam War and who knew people who never made it back. And if his team finds remains from a battle or crash site, he will have helped people with friends or family members who had been classified as missing in action all this time, he said.
“I am glad to be able to go there and to hopefully find someone who has been missing, and maybe help with closure with the families,” Danylek said. “I am expecting to have an experience to remember for the rest of my life.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.
As a staff sergeant with the U.S. Air Force, Danylek, 31, was a team leader in Iraq for an explosive ordinance disposal squad during his six-month tour.
The Auburn High School graduate, class of 1995, left last week for Vietnam, where he will use his expertise in explosives to help a new team search for a piece of history.
For the next two months, Danylek will be looking for possible remains at a crash site from the Vietnam War.
He will advise the crew when they come across an explosive device - such as an old grenade or mine - while they are searching.
The mission, which is also being carried out by linguists, an archaeologist, a medic and some troops provided by the Army, Navy and Marines, is like something straight out of the History Channel, Danylek said.
“My job will be to do a surface clearance for any type of (explosive) ordinance,” Danylek said during a phone conversation the night before leaving from Hawaii. “Then we'll start an archeological dig, looking for dog tags, bone fragments, dental work or any other sort of identification.”
Danylek said he could not get into specifics about the nature or location of the site, but he said he would be staying in a hotel as well as camping for 40 days straight while in the field. His team will also have to do some investigative work that will include talking with the locals and working with the Vietnam military, he said.
Danylek said he will have a hard time being away again from his wife, Nichole Remaley-Danylec, and their two-year-old son, Lucas, who live in Tacoma, Wash. But these types of missions are highly coveted in the Air Force, he said. When he joined the service in 1997 after attending Finger Lakes Community College for two years, he had no idea he would be part of something like this.
“I didn't even really know that (the Air Force) was involved in these types of missions,” Danylek said. “To be able to go to a country where I haven't traveled and actually talk to the locals, to see the culture and see the people, is something that will be worthwhile.”
His time in Vietnam will also be a nice change of pace from his former duties, he said. He will be wearing civilian clothes, right down to his boots. He will also be using non-military camping gear while he is in the field. And while there is still a possibility of coming in contact with dangerous devices, the explosives he might see were not put there to trick him or kill him, Danylek said.
“There is not an uncertainty about the ordinances, as opposed to when you find them in Iraq,” he said. “If we start digging and find something, it is what it is. I can walk down there, and this is not going to jump out and get me without me doing something to it.”
Danylek said he also knows there are aspects of this trip that go beyond himself. He has two uncles in Georgia who served during the Vietnam War and who knew people who never made it back. And if his team finds remains from a battle or crash site, he will have helped people with friends or family members who had been classified as missing in action all this time, he said.
“I am glad to be able to go there and to hopefully find someone who has been missing, and maybe help with closure with the families,” Danylek said. “I am expecting to have an experience to remember for the rest of my life.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.
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