Ranger Exes Memorial - RHS Class of 1942


MARIE LOUISE GALLAGHER DASKEVICH, 87, of
Mansfield, TX, went to join her beloved husband with ou
Lord on May 6, 2013, with interment in the Dallas-FW
National Cemetery.

Marie was born Aug. 9, 1925 in Ranger, TX, to the late 
Clarence & Alta Gallagher. She attended Ranger High School
in the Class of 1942.  Marie married the late Anthony
"Tut" Daskevich, also of Ranger, in 1946 after his return 
from Army service in World War II.  Together they raised 
four children and for 30 years made their life as an Army 
family, serving our nation and enjoying assignments across 
the United States and overseas.  After retiring from the 
service, the couple settled in Mansfield in 1976, becoming 
active members of the community and St. Jude Catholic 
Church. They were happily together for over 60 years before 
Tut's passing in 2006.  Marie was a very loving wife and 
mother whose most profound joy was in taking care of others, 
especially her beloved family.  In all ways, she felt her 
life to be a truly blessed one, and she celebrated it 
every day through giving and sharing. 

Marie was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; 
and her sisters, Betty Gallagher Bohan (RHS-1945) & Bertha
Gallagher Allen (RHS-1952). 

Survivors: her daughters, Lynda Daskevich Hinds (RHS-1966)
& husband, Ron Hinds (RHS-1964), of Arlington and Dorothy 
Ford and husband, AD, of Granbury; sons, Anthony & wife, 
Carolyn, of Leesburg, VA, and Daniel of Granbury; two 
grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; & sisters, Patricia
Gallagher (RHS-1957) of Arlington & Rita Gallagher Parker
(RHS-1938) of Katy.




HUSBAND: ANTHONY F. DASKEVICH, 87, of Mansfield, TX
& a retired U.S. Army brigadier general, passed away 
peacefully Sept. 19, 2006, surrounded by his wife 
and beloved family members, with burial in Dallas/
Fort Worth National Cemetery. 

He was born in Mingus, TX. He entered the U.S. Army
in 1941 and served in Europe during World War II. 
His combat decorations include the Distinguished 
Service Cross, two awards of the Silver Star, the 
Bronze Star and the French Fourragere.  He also 
twice received the Purple Heart. 

He continued his service in the Army for a total of 
34 years, rising to the rank of brigadier general. 
After his retirement, he continued to serve his 
family, community and church in Mansfield, where he 
had resided for the past 30 years. 

Brig. Gen. Daskevich was a much-loved and respected 
man who provided a sterling example of integrity, 
dignity and dedicated service to the nation, love 
of family and devotion to God. 

He was preceded in death by his parents, Valeria and 
Joseph Daskevich of Ranger; and brother, Joe Daskevich 
of Midland.

Survivors: His loving wife of 60 years, Marie Gallagher
(RHS-1942); his daughters, Lynda Hinds of Arlington and 
Dorothy Ford of Granbury; his sons Anthony of Fort Sill, 
Okla., and Daniel of Granbury; two grandchildren; five 
great-grandchildren; and his sisters, Helen Hood, Louise 
McGee, Betty Yeager and Faye Basham, all of Fort Worth. 

13 TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE ORDNANCE CORPS HALL OF FAME
Brig. Gen. Anthony F. Daskevich was born and educated in 
Mingus, Texas. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joe W. Daskevich 
and family moved to Ranger during WWII.  He married Marie 
Gallagher of the Class of 1942.   His father drove a Dr. 
Pepper truck. Two sisters went to school at RHS as did 
several nieces and nephews.  His brother, Joe, attended 
RJC and married Gaynell Gideon of Ranger.  Tut went into 
WWII as a draftee and received a Battlefield Commission. 
Tanks. Went in at North Africa, then Italy and then Europe.
DSC, 2 Silver Stars, 3 Purple Hearts.
 
The Chief of Ordnance announced that 13 individuals will 
be inducted into the Ordnance Corps Hall of Fame during 
Ordnance Week activities at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

Included in the list are four historical inductees: Maj. 
Gen. Waldo E. Laidlaw, Brig. Gen. Donald Armstrong, Dr. 
Frank E. Grubbs and Dr. John W. Mauchly.

Contemporary inductees include Gen. John G. Coburn, Maj. 
Gen. Chester M. McKeen Jr., Maj. Gen. James W. Monroe, 
Brig. Gen. Anthony F. Daskevich, CW4 Jay G. Gruwell, 
CSM Billy E. Prysock, Dr. Philip W. Lett, Dr. Rocco
A. Petrone and Dr. Joseph Sperrazza.

The Ordnance Corps Hall of Fame was established in 1969 
to recognize and memorialize individuals who made a 
positive, significant contribution to the U.S. Army 
Ordnance Corps. Its members are honored in a permanent 
display in the Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving 
Ground, Md.

Anthony F. Daskevich began his Army career as an 
enlisted soldier in 1941. Rising through the ranks, he 
received a battlefield commission during World War II 
and led a tank platoon in combat in the European 
Theater.  In 1951, following an assignment as a 
maintenance officer in Germany, he transferred from 
the Armor Branch to the Ordnance Corps and took 
command of the 18th Ordnance Medium Maintenance 
Company in Germany.

In his next assignment as an instructor for the 
Officer Basic and Advanced Courses at the Ordnance 
School, he was given responsibility for revising
Field Manual 9-10, the only Army publication dealing 
with Direct Support maintenance operations at the 
time. Much to his credit, he applied lessons learned 
as a maintenance company commander and combat veteran 
to update and improve field maintenance doctrine.

Following assignments as Ordnance Advisor to the 
Venezuelan Army and as a project officer on the 
Ordnance Board, which was subsequently incorporated
into the Maintenance Agency, Combat Developments 
Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, he took command 
of the 4th Ordnance Battalion (Maintenance and 
Supply) in Korea. This battalion integrated all non-
divisional Ordnance, Signal, Engineer Maintenance, 
and Quartermaster units in South Korea and was one 
the precursors of the multi-functional corps support 
battalion. Under his leadership, the 4th Ordnance 
Battalion developed the standing operating procedures 
necessary for these diverse units to function as a 
team.

From 1966 to 1969, he was assigned to Combat 
Developments Command, most notably as the project 
officer for a Department of Army project known as
Combat Operational Loss and Expenditure Data-Vietnam 
(COLED-V). Within three months, he devised a collection 
plan and organized teams to collect data on combat 
vehicles damaged by enemy artillery and assess artillery 
ammunition expenditure rates.  The results led to 
improvements in vehicle survivability and laid the 
groundwork for developing revised ammunition expenditure 
tables.

Concurrently, he was tapped to support a Department of 
Defense project for Utilization and Redistribution of 
Material in the Pacific Area (PURM). Here again, he and 
his team excelled. Under Lt. Gen. Joseph M. Heiser Jr.’s
guidance, they developed an inter-service plan to 
identify and redistribute excess material that, in turn, 
helped the government avoid both unnecessary new 
procurement and drains on existing depot stocks.

He culminated his career in a number of key assignments: 
Commander, Tooele Army Depot, 1969 to 1971; Commander, 
VII Corps Support Command, 1971 to 1973, and Deputy 
Commanding General, US Army Tank-Automotive Command 
(TACOM), 1973 to 1975. At TACOM, he overhauled the 
wholesale supply operation, improving stock availability 
from 58 to 85 percent, and established a liaison program 
with the divisions and separate regiments specifically 
designed to address the units’ readiness problems.

Daskevich retired in 1975 after 34 years of service, 24 
of them as an Ordnance officer who made a wide range of 
contributions to the Corps.