Special tribute held for fallen Green Beret, Cape Coral HS grad

CAPE CORAL, Fla. “Taps” played and cadets stood at attention Friday in honor of a Cape Coral High School graduate who died serving his country.

A special ceremony was held for U.S. Army Capt. Daniel William Eggers, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2004 after his vehicle hit an IED. Eggers, who was 28 when he died, was commissioned 20 years ago this year.

“It’s something that I live with every day,” sister Maris Lebid said. “It’s hard to even put into words.”

Retired U.S. Army Col. Calvin Wimbish, instructor for the school’s JROTC program, set up the memorial to help impart the gravity of the mission graduating cadets have in front of them. The graduates turned command over to incoming cadets as part of Friday’s ceremony.

“It’s humbling, because they now sense what we as adults have been trying to tell them,” Wimbish said. “This is the final phase to get set and ready to go to step up to be an accountable, responsible, reliable, dependent American.”

Eggers served as a model — particularly so, his father said, for those counted out.

“He was a patriot to the underdog, and I think that was one of his legacies,” William Eggers said.