Verlyne Daniels was born on April 23, 1930, in Reamsville, Kansas. He enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve on November 7, 1947, and served with Organized Surface Unit 12-39 at Stockton, California, from November 1947 until he went on active duty in the U.S. Navy on December 23, 1950. Daniels next attended flight training and was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy and designated a Naval Aviator on July 31, 1952, followed by service as an AD-4/6/7 Skyraider pilot with VA-155 at NAS Moffett Field, California, from October 1952 to April 1955. During this time, LtJG Daniels deployed aboard the aircraft carriers USS Princeton (CVA-37), during the Korean War from January to September 1953, and aboard the USS Yorktown (CVA-10) from July 1954 to February 1955. His next assignment was as a flight instructor with Fleet All Weather Training Unit Pacific at NAS Moffett Field from April to July 1955, followed by Line School at Monterey, California, from August 1955 to June 1956. LT Daniels served as a flight instructor at NAAS Saufley Field, Florida, from July 1956 to September 1959, and he then attended Ordnance Handling Officer training at NATTC Jacksonville, Florida, from October to December 1959. His next assignment was as Ordnance Handling Officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge (CV-33) from January 1960 to February 1962, followed by A-4 Skyhawk training with VA-125 at NAS Lemoore, California, from March to September 1962. LCDR Daniels served as an A-4 pilot, Maintenance Officer, and then as Operations Officer of VA-163 at NAS Lemoore from September 1962 to July 1964, and he then attended the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey from July 1964 to July 1966. CDR Daniels next served as an A-4 flight instructor with VA-125 at NAS Lemoore from July 1966 to May 1967, followed by service as an A-4 pilot and Executive Officer of VA-155 at NAS Lemoore and deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea (CVA-43) from May 1967 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on October 26, 1967. After spending 1,967 days in captivity, he was released during Operation Homecoming on March 14, 1973. CAPT Daniels was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Oakland, California, and he then attended the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey from April 1974 to February 1976. His next assignment was as Head of the Military Construction Branch of the Shore Activities Planning and Programming Division within the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in the Pentagon from February 1976 to October 1979, followed by service as Comptroller and Administrative Officer at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, California, from November 1979 until his retirement from the Navy on November 1, 1983. Verlyne Daniels Flew West on October 16, 2019.

His Silver Star Citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while interned as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam. On 26 October 1967, his captors, completely ignoring international agreements, subjected him to extreme mental and physical cruelties in an attempt to obtain military information and false confessions for propaganda purposes. Through his resistance to those brutalities, he contributed significantly toward the eventual abandonment of harsh treatment by the North Vietnamese, which was attracting international attention. By his determination, courage, resourcefulness, and devotion to duty, he reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Naval Service and the United States Armed Forces.