Veterinarians mourn fallen compatriot

The U.S. Army Veterinary Service Corps considered cancelling its 90th-anniversary celebration when the first veterinarian since the Vietnam conflict was killed in action May 18 as a result of a roadside bomb in Iraq.

LTC Daniel Edward Holland, DVM

LTC Daniel Edward Holland, DVM, served 21 years in the military after earning his veterinary degree from Oklahoma State University. He was the 2,453rd fatality in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Department of Defense confirmed 2607 coalition deaths through Aug. 18.

"Everyone loved him; he was one of the favorite sons," says MAJ Noreen Murphy, DVM, MPH, Dipl. ACVPM, assistant to the chief of the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps. "We ended up having our celebration to honor him because he volunteered to go, and he really loved what he was doing."

The 43-year-old was Chief of the Public Health and Functional Specialty Teams for Civil Affairs for the 4th Infantry Division; He had been in-theater just three weeks.

In a letter to his brother — a retired U.S. Army Major — before Mother's day, LTC Holland foretold the dangers he would face: "This war is mostly about CA (civil affairs) now, but the IEDs (improvised explosive device) keep it very real, all the time. It is very common to hear small-arms fire and for mortars or rockets to land within our compounds. Fortunately the random fired doesn't cause much damage and rarely casualties. It's the IEDs that cause the loss of life and limb.

LTC Holland teaches a Haji to care for his livestock on May 18, the day he was killed in action.

"... When I go out, it is to evaluate Iraqi sites that pertain to public health, vet med, animals or agriculture. The idea is to encourage civil participation, collect civil information and to positively impact the average Iraqi citizen by helping them with their subsistence style of ag/animal husbandry. Frankly, we can make more progress helping here than working on huge national problems that take forever to impact and don't resonate with the average Haji ..."

Three other soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were killed in the IED blast that killed Dr. Holland. He is survived by his wife, son, daughter, parents and three siblings.