Jon Danielson, 24, was one of five people graduating from Centreville High in 1997 and going right to West Point. He graduated as a second lieutenant in 2001 and, since then, has really gone far — all the way to Iraq.
Now a first lieutenant in the Army, he left on April 18 with the 52nd Engineer Battalion, attached to the 130th Engineer Brigade. First stop was Kuwait, en route to Iraq on a rebuilding mission.
"They brought all this heavy equipment with them — front loaders, dump trucks and cranes," said his mom, Jackie, of Little Rocky Run. "He'll either help build something for the [U.S.] troops or for Iraq."
The son of Jackie and Dan Danielson, Jon has one sister, Erin, 20, a junior at Virginia Tech. A hometown boy all the way, Jon played SYA soccer and earned his Eagle Scout badge with a Boy Scout troop based at St. Timothy. And while at Centreville High, he volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and helped build houses for needy families in Alexandria.
At West Point, he received a degree in civil engineering and then attended the 4 1/2-month Basic Officers Course at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. "Officers going into the Army Corps of Engineers go to this school," explained his mom.
Jon received further training at Fort Carson, Colo. He was a platoon leader for A Company and then advanced to the job of executive officer for the Headquarters Company. Now, he's newly arrived in Kuwait, and his mother couldn't be happier that, for the most part, the war seems to be over now.
"That's what we were hoping — that by the time he went over, it would be less dangerous," she said. "He might help build a school, housing, roads or bridges or rebuild areas that were destroyed."
Jon's dad, a colonel, is a retired Army engineer who served 30 years in the Army Corps of Engineers. So, said Jackie Danielson, "I was used to [him deploying], but it's different when your son goes. You worry about your kids differently from the way you worry about your spouse."
Now, she's a fifth-grade teacher at Centre Ridge Elementary, and her husband's a project manager for SSI Services and works in McLean. They, too, have been to the Middle East, and Jackie believes that living previously in that region of the world helped prepare her son a bit for what he's facing now.
"We lived in Saudi Arabia for two years when Jon was in first and second grades," she said. "We were in a remote area near the Kuwaiti border, so he remembers the heat of the desert, what the area looks like and the dust storms."
Most of all, she's glad that the War in Iraq "seems to have wound down" as quickly as it did. "I'm sure it's still dangerous — because, every day, you hear of incidents," said Jackie. "But I know Jon hopes he can help with construction to do some good, so he's very excited. We're very proud of him — we're proud of both our kids."
She said Jon first became interested in the Army when the family was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., when he was in the eighth or ninth grade. He then attended a week-long information seminar at West Point and was hooked.
"In high school, he really started talking about going to West Point," said his mom. "It was difficult, but he's glad he went there. He got a good education — and he really knows his engineering."