DALLAS — This time last year 19-year-old Megan Daniels was a high school senior, cheerleading, modeling and going to prom.
"She’s a kid like any American kid," her dad, Eddy Daniels told WFAA.
Except now Megan is going to war.
"She came up with this idea on her own in middle school, that when she graduated she wanted to move to Israel and join the army," said Eddy.
Megan, a proud Jew, announced she’d fight for the IDF when she was just 12 years old.
"Everyone said it was a phase," her mom, Taryn Daniels, told WFAA. "My family said it, we said it."
But Megan never went back on her word.
"That’s what she decided she wanted to do, go to Israel and support her people," Taryn continued.
Now she is, and in a way she never expected. Megan completed basic training days before Hamas attacked Israel.
"[Megan] just said, 'I’ve seen so many pictures that are forever burned in my head, and I’ll never be able to get them out," her mom recalled of their last phone call.
Three of Megan's fellow lone soldiers, who she bunked with, have been killed. Her friend’s boyfriend is being held hostage by Hamas, her parents said.
"We are terrified, and she is scared, because you never anticipate something of this scale happening," Taryn said.
But Megan is ready to fight. As we speak, her parents said, she’s waiting for her assignment.
"Her strength and her determination and commitment to this is astounding, she’s a lot braver and stronger than I am."
"A lot of us think, had I been alive when the Holocaust happened, I would’ve done something," Eddy added. "Well, she’s in Israel, and she can do something now. About really the greatest threat to Judaism since the Nazis."
Megan’s fight was fueled, by the way, when Dallas lit its buildings blue and white in support of Israel.
"My daughter did ask me to share with you specifically," Taryn told WFAA. "That everyone in Israel has seen that imagine of the Dallas skyline has been going around and they’re all so touched by the support they’re getting from America."
Megan’s parents now pray for her safe, eventual return home. Until then, they cheer on their 19-year-old cheerleader, half a world away.
"We’re proud of the way she’s handling adversity she never imagined," Eddy said.
"We know she will contribute so much to contribute to help her people and the free world to make the world a better place," Taryn added.
According to 'Friends of the IDF,' there are currently 21 Lone soldiers from Texas currently serving in the IDF (a lone soldier is a soldier in the IDF with no family in Israel to support him or her).
Friends of the IDF (FIDF) says it is the only organization in the US authorized by the IDF to raise funds for the humanitarian needs of the soldiers. Current needs include field hospitals, armored ambulances, medical supplies, plasma and hygiene kits. 100% of donations collected go directly and quickly to the IDF.
People interested in donating can here: www.fidf.org