Four generations of military service recognized

Friday was a special day for the Shannon family, whose military service has spanned many generations.

Forty-nine years to the day after Army 1st Lt. Kenneth Arthur Shannon was killed early in the Vietnam War, U.S. Rep. Steve Daines, R-Montana, read a letter Shannon’s son, Laron “D” Shannon of Kalispell, wrote to his late father and placed it at the apex of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial where D’s father’s name is listed.

A flag ceremony was part of the event to honor the fallen Vietnam War soldier.

Friday also was the day D Shannon’s son — the fourth generation of the family to serve his country — began boot camp with the U.S. Marine Corps.

The Washington, D.C., Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a national memorial known simply as The Wall, is constructed so that the first and last casualties of the war meet in the middle at the apex, giving it a symmetry that is reflected in the ending of 1st Lt. Shannon’s life and the beginning of his grandson’s military career.

“I just got off the phone with D, and it was truly an honor to be a part of that ceremony,” Daines said after the event. “It was very touching to be there.”

Because of failing health, D couldn’t be there, but his father and son were both in his thoughts and other family members were on hand to witness the event.

“This means so many different things in so many different ways,” D Shannon said. “I’m very proud that our country still produces people like my son, who choose the path less traveled; that knowingly step up to serve, even though our country is tearing itself apart with things like political machinations.”

It was March 10, 1964, when 25-year-old Kenneth Arthur Shannon arrived as an Army lieutenant in Vietnam as commander of a rotary wing aviation unit. It was a country unlike anything he had ever experienced living in Lynchburg, Va. In fact, when he first got his orders, he had to go to the local library and look up just where he was being sent. Official military operations in Vietnam wouldn’t begin for another five months.

But for him, the war ended before it began. He was shot down and killed March 15 that year, just five days after arriving in the country.

For D Shannon, the only memory he has of his father is of making a birthday snow fort when he was 4, just before his father left for the last time.

 And even though his father was killed in the line of duty, D grew up with a desire to serve, like so many others in his family. He was raised by his grandparents and grew up on tales of his grandpa’s time in World War II as part of the Flying Tigers, supporting Merrill’s Marauders and flying in surrender terms to Japan, making him “the first Allied man in Japan.”

D Shannon bucked the family tradition and joined the Marine Corps rather than the Army, graduating from the Virginia Military Institute in 1982. It was the same year the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was completed and he was there for the dedication, standing vigil during 1982 and 1983. His father was the 122nd casualty of the war, listed on panel 1 East, line 47.

After his military career, D moved to Kalispell and began his own family.

“One of our ancestors came over on the Mayflower, and we had family in Jamestown as well,” D said. “I was raised where service was a part of the fabric of life. It wasn’t one-upmanship. No one bragged about their medals, but you could see the look in the eyes, the tip of the hat. You served your country first, then you went to work and had a family. I like that about the Flathead Valley, because there are so many people who have served, and it’s part of the identity of this place.”

The significance of March 15 was not lost on D and a while back he mentioned it to a friend at The Summit, who decided something should be done to mark such an important day.

“I’ve been going to the Journey to Wellness program at The Summit, and I told the story to one of the women I was working with,” D Shannon said. “She told her son in the Navy, Erik Oehrtman, who asked if he could put together a color guard to honor my father at The Wall. It blows me away that he wanted to do this, and I’m really honored.”

D Shannon said he never pushed military service on his son, who goes by Colin, but he was proud that he wanted to serve.

“I get a little emotional about it,” D said. “Where do kids like this come from? He’s far from perfect, but he wants to serve. I’ve met so many people of my son’s generation who think a sacrifice is when their satellite or Internet is out for a day and that the country owes them something. That old J.F.K. quote about ‘what you can do for your country,’ doesn’t even seem to apply to so many people.”

Colin Shannon is scheduled to graduate from boot camp just before turning 18 and then will head off to the Marine Corps School of Infantry to begin training there. D said his son has hopes of joining Force Reconnaissance or the Marine Corps Special Operations Command.

“My son went in knowing things were going to get worse,” D Shannon said. “It wasn’t a ‘what’s in it for me’ thing, he wanted to do it not only for family tradition, but he wants to do something important with his life.”