Page 2 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, FEbrUAry 3, 2023 HERO | FROM PAGE 1 to have,” Riley said. “But when I saw the history behind the person who once used it and knowing he was a fighter pilot, I was thinking it had to go back to the family. I wanted to get the piece reunited with a member of the family. If it weren’t for Janice’s articles, I wouldn’t know where to go with this,” he said. From the articles he had read, Riley knew Daniels was from Saugus and might possibly have relatives still living in town. Riley contacted Jim Mitchell, who is publisher of Advocate Newspapers, Inc, which owns four newspapers, including The Saugus Advocate. “Didn’t know if he has family still in your area,” Riley said in the message he left. “Any help would be appreciated,” he said. Connecting with Daniels’ family The Advocate Newspapers Publisher Mitchell referred the message to The Saugus Advocate, which was able to locate an immediate family member – Daniels’ daughter, Susan Miller. The Saugus Advocate acted as an intermediary, putting Miller in touch with Riley. “How special it was for her and her family, that after all these years, something like this turned up,” Riley said. “I’m just glad that we were $3.99 GALLON We accept: MasterCard * Visa * & Discover Price Subject to Change without notice 100 Gal. Min. 24 Hr. Service 781-286-2602 able to get in touch with a member of the family and were able to connect. Susan called one afternoon, and she seemed real excited and said the rest of the family was looking forward to getting it,” he said. Riley said he went ahead and shipped the footlocker with anticipated arrival of today (Friday, Feb. 3). Riley didn’t serve in the miliMajor Walter Daniels in his flight gear (Photo Courtesy to The Saugus Advocate by Edward Moore) A photo of the late Major Walter Joseph Daniels’ badly shotup aircraft after it crash-landed. (Photo Courtesy to The Saugus Advocate by Edward Moore) Walter Daniels’ name on the footlocker (Photo Courtesy to The Saugus Advocate by Wayne Riley) tary, but says he’s very patriotic. His late father was a career military man, serving with the U.S. Army in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. One mystery that Riley said he would have loved to solve is how a military footlocker used by a pilot in Texas wound up in Georgia. Also, he wonders how many hands touched the footlocker over the years. “I’m pretty excited and can’t wait for it to get here,” Miller said. “I’m so gratified that he [Riley] did this research and did all of his homework. It’s just incredible to be getting this after all these years,” she said. “We had an interesting conversation. He learned that there was another name on the footlocker and that it was common for footlockers to be given to other people.” “Like part of Walter Daniels coming home,” Janice Jarosz, who wrote the articles that caught Riley’s attention on the Internet, said she was happy to learn that the footlocker was headed to Saugus. “It’s like a part of Walter Daniels coming home,” Jarosz said. “It represents him, and it’s so wonderful for something like this to be happening,” she said. Jarosz has fond memories of as a 15-year-old girl waiting on customers at the old Godfried’s Bakery. “He looked like he just stepped out of a magazine,” Jarosz recalled. “He had a full length coat and a black hat. He was always dapper, always polite, always nice and always a gentleman,” she said. “I knew he was a big hero. He was very popular in town. He worked for the town as a building inspector.” One former Saugus resident recalled a favorite Walter Daniels story from his teenage days. “I met Mr. Daniels when I was 14 while I was going to Essex Agricultural School,” George Brown recalled in a 2017 interview with The Saugus Advocate. “I wanted to build a greenhouse on the side of my father’s garage. My father told me I would need a building permit. I walked into his office, big as life, and I said, ‘Mr. Daniels, I need a building permit.’ He said to me, ‘You tell your dad to go ahead and build it and if he has any problems, to call me,’” Brown said. “Mr. Daniels was an uncle of a friend of mine. The Daniels were a large family here in SauHERO | SEE PAGE 5
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