Danny Lee McMinn was born in April 1946 in Bellflower, California and lived in Torrance and the South Bay for most of his life. He attended North and West High Schools in Torrance and was employed at Douglas Aircraft Company’s Torrance plant. He married Jean Ann (Gilmartin) on November 13, 1965.

Shorty thereafter in January 1966 he entered the U.S. Army during the peak years of the Vietnam draft. Private First Class McMinn was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, before going to Vietnam where he served as an Infantry Indirect Fire Crewman (mortarman) with Troop D, 17th Cavalry, 199th Infantry Brigade (Light). 

On February 15, 1967, he was killed in action by enemy small arms fire when his patrol was ambushed in the Bien Hoa area. This was only two months after his outfit was sent to Vietnam. Sadly, his wife was notified of her husband’s death as she prepared to enter a hospital to give birth to their first child, Dawn Marie, the name chosen by them before he went overseas.

PFC Danny McMinn received a posthumous promotion to Corporal and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart among other medals. He was survived by his wife and daughter, his parents and his brother and sister. He was buried with military honors at the Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.