Tellico Plains senior is youngest post commander in American Veterans history

Tellico Plains High School senior Danielle “Dani” Cain, right, is the youngest AMVETS post commander in the national support group for military veterans and active personnel. She is shown with AMVETS State Commander Deric Everett.

Danielle “Danifriend” Cain

As a little girl growing up in Polk County, Tenn., Danielle “Dani” Cain loved to spend time with family friend Dan Reed. He’d tell her of the things he saw and did during the Vietnam War, and the stories captivated her. They still do.

Perhaps because of those tales, she also loved to play Army and could often be found enlisting the help of her older sister, Courtney, and their three male cousins. Their dolls were recruited for many of the battles.

“We’d tie firecrackers to our GI Joes and our Barbie dolls and throw them off the front porch,” she said.

“We were pretty rough and tough,” she said of herself and her sister. They also spent a lot of time with their father, Dan, in his garage working on old cars.