South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Sappington Post Office dedicated in honor of fallen Army lieutenant

Lt. Riordan deeply devoted to his faith, family, country
Members of Boy Scout Troop 627 post the colors last week during the ceremony renaming the Sappington Post Office in honor of Army Lt. Daniel Riordan. Pictured on the stage, from left, are: St. Louis Postmaster Cathy Vaughn, U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner and Postal Service Gateway District Manager Charles Miller.
Members of Boy Scout Troop 627 post the colors last week during the ceremony renaming the Sappington Post Office in honor of Army Lt. Daniel Riordan. Pictured on the stage, from left, are: St. Louis Postmaster Cathy Vaughn, U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner and Postal Service Gateway District Manager Charles Miller.

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Daniel P. Riordan was hailed as “a true American hero” by U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner during a ceremony last week renaming the Sappington Post Office in his honor.

Family, friends and community members gathered June 30, as the post office at 11662 Gravois Road was renamed the Lt. Daniel P. Riordan Post Office Building.

Lt. Riordan, 24, was killed June 23, 2007, while serving as a tank commander in Iraq.

He was one of four soldiers killed when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle northwest of Baghdad.

Wagner sponsored legislation last year that was unanimously adopted by Congress to rename three area post offices after fallen soldiers, including the Sappington Post Office. The Affton Post Office in Grasso Plaza recently was renamed in honor of U.S. Army Sgt. Amanda Pinson of Lemay, who was killed in 2006 by rocket fire in Iraq, and the Chesterfield Main Post Office was renamed earlier this year in honor of Sgt. Zachary M. Fisher of Ballwin, who was killed in action in 2010.

During last week’s ceremony, Lt. Riordan was remembered as a man who was deeply devoted to his faith, his family and his country, and placed the welfare of others over his own safety.

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Lt. Riordan moved to St. Louis with his family at the age of 5. He attended Queen of All Saints School in Oakville and was a 2001 graduate of St. John Vianney High School, where he earned both the Gold Circle and Marianist awards.

Lt. Riordan pursued his higher education at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, graduating in 2005.

Wagner welcomed members of Lt. Riordan’s family to the ceremony, including his mother, Jeanine Rainey, and her husband, Bob; his sister Suzanne Riordan; and his twin brother Nick Riordan and his wife, Danielle, and their children.

Lt. Riordan’s father, Rick, and his wife, Michelle, “so wanted to be here, but unfortunately were not able to join us,” she said.

Local officials attending included Sunset Hills Mayor Pat Fribis, several Sunset Hills aldermen, Sunset Hills Police Chief William LaGrand, Mehlville Fire Protection District Chief Brian Hendricks and Sen. Eric Schmitt of Glendale.

“… As your representative in Congress, it has been my absolute privilege to sponsor legislation honoring and memorializing our nation’s heroes. It has been humbling to introduce H.R. (House of Representatives) 324 — yes, this is a bill, a bill to name the Sappington Post Office after a true American hero, Army 1st Lt. Daniel P. Riordan, who gave his life in service to this great nation on June 23, 2007,” Wagner said. “Coincidentally, and this is amazing that it all lined up this way, Lt. Riordan was laid to rest in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery on June 30, 2007 — exactly nine years ago today.”

She continued, “Today, as we all prepare to celebrate our nation’s Independence Day, we honor and celebrate a brave patriot who willingly stepped into danger in order to preserve the freedom that we often all take too much for granted …”

After Lt. Riordan was deployed to Iraq in 2006 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he “served with courage and determination,” Wagner said. “Despite frequently being outnumbered in enemy territory, Lt. Dan was always out on point, leading his platoon into battle. Described by one of his sergeants as a fierce warrior, Lt. Dan took his leadership responsibilities deeply to heart, leading by the ideal that he could not order his men forward if he was not willing to go first.”

Susan Garrett, Lt. Riordan’s aunt and a Vietnam veteran, recalled Lt. Riordan’s deep devotion to his faith, his family and his country.

“… We celebrate Dan’s life and all that he accomplished in such a short time. He used every bit of his talent for the good of others, never, ever asking for recognition or compensation …,” she said. “In my letter to Dan before he deployed, I told him that my hero list was very short, but assured him that he was at the top. So we remember Dan — that crooked smile, the cowboy hat and boots and the country music. His devotion to faith, family and country. His embrace of life and adventure. His tender heart. His brave soul.

“When we see things that remind us of him or hear his favorite songs, hear the pipes of the Lt. Dan blue truck coming down the street and think of all the lives he touched and continues to touch, we are reminded of the words of another great tanker, Gen. George S. Patton: ‘It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.'”

Jason Horlacher, a police officer and Lt. Riordan’s closest friend, spoke of Lt. Riordan’s maturity and compassion, even as a 17-year-old who attended the wake for Horlacher’s father.

Lt. Riordan was the first person to arrive at the wake and the last to leave “when they were literally locking the doors. I’ll never forget that. What kind of 17-year-old knows how to behave that way?”

During a leave, Lt. Riordan took the time to visit Horlacher’s home.

“The day he was at my house, he received a phone call, advising him that his unit had come under heavy, organized, sustained attack from insurgents during his absence from the battlefield, resulting in several soldiers being wounded and many enemy combatants being killed,” Horlacher recalled. “I could see the concern for his men written all over his face, and someone like me would have understandably welcomed his quick and subsequent departure from my home to attend to his responsibilities as a combat leader. However, Dan stayed and continued to spend time with my family and I.

“He never told me that he still had to go to Dallas, Texas, on the way back to Iraq before he finally left again to visit one of his wounded soldiers who had returned to the States to recover from wounds sustained overseas. Again, where does a man learn to carry himself in such a way?”

As Lt. Riordan left Horlacher’s house, they exchanged a big hug.

“… I gave him one of my dad’s dog tags from his service in the Army. My dad was somebody that Dan highly regarded. He, too, began his career in the Army as a Cobra gunship pilot in Vietnam,” Horlacher said. “I gave him one of my dad’s dog tags and told him that I loved him and would see him again when he got back. I never told him anything like that because any other time in our lives, he probably would have rolled his eyes and put me in a headlock for being so sappy.

“But by the time he and I reached the point in our lives when we had exchanged our goodbyes, we’d both been in our chosen careers long enough to know that our time here on this earth is not only sacred, but it’s not guaranteed. I decided long before I said goodbye to him that I was not going to do so without telling him that I loved him. Dan reluctantly accepted the gift and drove away, and that was the last time we ever spoke in person.”

Nick Riordan said he could talk “for hours, maybe even days, about Dan, his personality, his sacrifice and why he did what he did,” but he wished instead to thank all of the speakers, noting “they’ve done a wonderful job of encapsulating Dan and who he was as a man.”

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