Buies Creek, N.C-Eugene B. “Red” McDaniel, of Alexandria, Va., has received the J.A. Campbell Award from Campbell University. McDaniel, who delivered Campbell’s winter commencement address, is a highly decorated Vietnam veteran and prisoner of war.
The J.A. Campbell award was created to honor alumni whose lives best exemplify the moral values and beliefs of Campbell University founder, James Archibald Campbell.
On May 19, 1967, while on a combat mission over North Vietnam, McDaniel’s A-6 Intruder aircraft was shot down. He was listed as “missing in action” until 1970 when the Hanoi government acknowledged that he was being held. Released in 1973 after being imprisoned for six years, McDaniel wrote a book about his captivity, “Scars and Stripes. The book explained how McDaniel’s faith in God sustained him during the long years of incarceration.
Upon his release, McDaniel resumed active duty and served as commanding officer of the USS Niagra Falls and the aircraft carrier USS Lexington. He also served as director of Navy/Marine Corps Liaison to the U.S. House of Representatives before retiring in 1982.
Following retirement, McDaniel founded the American Defense Foundation and the American Defense Institute, non-profit organizations created to increase public awareness of national defense issues.
McDaniel is a 1952 graduate of Campbell University and received a degree from Elon College in 1954. He was named a Distinguished Alumnus of both institutions and was admitted into the Campbell University Sports Hall of Fame as well as the Lenoir County Sports Hall of Fame.
The J.A. Campbell award was created to honor those alumni whose lives best exemplify the moral values and beliefs of Campbell University founder, James Archibald Campbell.
Campbell and his wife Dorothy are the parents of three grown children.