Danny Mejia

Danny Mejia was born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley, primarily in the city of Patterson. Two years after graduating from Patterson High School in 1982, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in June of 1984. He served for 21 years, retiring in May of 2005 with the rank of E-8, Senior Chief Petty Officer. During that time, the United States was involved in the Persian Gulf War, Desert Storm/Desert Shield, the Afghan War, the Iraq War and the Global War on Terrorism. The ships that Senior Chief Mejia helped to run participated in many operations during those times in the Persian Gulf. While onboard and underway, Senior Chief Mejia was an essential Electronics Warfare Technician and was responsible for recommending which weapon systems would be used to defend against enemy attack. Senior Chief Mejia went on 8 overseas deployments, each one lasting 6 months or longer and he sailed on 5 ships: USS Shasta AE-33, USS Constellation CV-64, USS California CGN-36, USS Truxtun CGN-35 and USS Fitzgerald DDG-62. He also served 2 tours as a successful Navy Recruiter at Navy Recruiting District San Francisco. Over the years he was recognized for his service with the following medals: 2 Navy Commendation Medals, 3 Navy Achievement Medals, 5 Navy Good Conduct Medals, 2 National Defense Service Medals, 2 Armed Forces Expeditionary Medals, 2 Southwest Asia Service Medals, 1 Kuwait Liberation Medal, 1 Expert Rifle Medal, 1 Expert Pistol Medal, in addition to many other ribbons, citations and awards. Military service during this time was particularly difficult on young families since the only way to communicate was by letter and phone. Senior Chief Mejia missed many important milestones in the lives of his four children that he loves so much. His sacrifice for love of Country, Liberty and Freedom will never be forgotten.

MEDALS-RIBBONS: Navy Unit Commendation, Meritorious Unit
Commendation, Navy "E" (4), Good Conduct (6), National Defense
Service (2), Armed Forces Expeditionary (2), Southwest Asia
Service, Sea Service Deployment (8), Navy Recruiting Service,
Kuwait Liberation, Expert Rifleman, Expert Pistol

During his career, Senior Chief Mejia deployed to the Indian Ocean,
Persian Gulf and Red Sea in support of the Cold War, Operation
Southern Watch, Operation Desert Fox and numerous multinational
campaigns. A true professional.