Cover Story: Patrick Daley Reports For Duty

The promise of a new year holds great potential for Patrick Daley. Most would think a 29-year-old with a University of Chicago MBA and a Windy City political pedigree which counts both his father and grandfather as its Mayor would look to the promise of stardom in politics or the private sector.

But instead, he chose to be called Army Specialist Patrick Daley.

Mayor Daley’s son reported for duty just after Christmas, accompanied by 27 other recruits which included two cousins.

He now resides at Fort Benning, Georgia for training and then possibly Iraq. First, of course, is seven months of basic, advanced infantry and airborne training. He told reporters he felt "great."

"You always think your son or daughter is very young. Of course they are mature adults. You see all of them going in today. Every family reflects upon that. But again, I think he’s excited and the other men and women are excited as well," said Mayor Daley, Patrick’s father.

Patrick Daley attended the United States Military Academy at West Point when he was 18, but left as a freshman. He once told Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed that enlisting in the infantry has been on his mind for years.

"It took me a while to learn that there’s...a virtue in selflessness," he said. "And I believe that virtue is to serve your country."

The younger Daley also enlisted in the Army to serve on the frontline instead of becoming an officer. His training will be in the airborne infantry. He passed on the officer route so he could start from the bottom. "If you look at some of the greatest military, religious and business leaders, they usually started at the very bottom," Patrick Daley said.

A recent New York Times Editorial also praised the decision, eloquently adding: "His startling shift in social standing is about as stark a way as any to illustrate the debate about the ways that our volunteer Army mirrors our country as a whole."

"I think him stepping up and going infantry and doing what he wants is really inspiration for a lot of people and he wants to serve the country. So I think everyone is proud of him," said Jonas Hirschman, fellow recruit.

"I told him that defending the country against folks that don’t like our way of life and will do anything they can to harm our way of life and they are on the front lines defending us and their families and their families should be awfully proud of them as well," said Maj. Gen. David Harris (Ret) U.S. Army.

Patrick Daley is the first member of his immediate family to enlist in the armed services. His father and two uncles, Bill and Michael, were in the Reserves. His mother Maggie is battling cancer and her other son, Kevin, died at the age of 2 from complications of a spinal disorder.