Danny attended Island Trees High School where he was an avid wrestler.

His coach, Damian Garcia, and teammates remember that he always put the welfare of the team before his own. He enlisted in the Army in 2005, just three months after graduation but always maintained close ties with his alma mater. Island Trees Social worker Susan Lyons said he would even return for visits to the school when home from the Army on leave. “In fact, he came to visit just two weeks before he was deployed to Iraq in February,” Susan Lyons said. “He was the best of the best; a hardworking, never give up kind of guy. He never had a bad word to say about anybody. He had this smile that lit up a room.”

Just 2 months into his first deployment, the messages home ceased. An improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near his vehicle and mortally wounded him. Daniel A. Fuentes was only 19 when he was killed on April 6, 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq. Danny’s legacy of helping others lives on. Danny is survived by his Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Son, Niece, Nephew & Family Members.

In 2007 immediately after Daniels death, The Fuentes Family set up the Spc. Daniel Fuentes Memorial Scholarship fund at Island Tress High School to help ensure that other Island Trees “Bulldogs” get the opportunity for a college education. Since that time, over 60 scholarships have been awarded to students who exemplify Danny’s sense of honesty, loyalty, and courage! In 2017, after 10 successful years of having the scholarship fund at Island Trees High School, the Fuentes Family opened

The Non-Profit Daniel Fuentes Foundation to not only provide scholarships to Island Trees Seniors, but to also help support our active military, veterans and Military K-9 friends. In recent years we have donated custom wrestling apparel to the Island Trees Wrestling Team, sent care packages to soldiers overseas, as well as care packages to the Military K-9s including food, Medications and other medical needs. Every year we host the “Gold Star Families Remembrance of Our Fallen Heroes” at Eisenhower Park with the help of Nassau County and other Gold Star Families, reading the names of all NY State Fallen Heroes.