SSG John Daniel “Dan” Shannon was born in Lawton, Oklahoma to a large family with a long history of military service dating back to the Revolutionary War. SSG Shannon first entered the Army in 1984 and graduated top in his class in Sniper School. He had a break in active duty service from 1988 to 1997 to raise his family and attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. He served as a 1st Lieutenant in the inactive reserves during that time, and re-enlisted as a dual component service member in 1997 at Fort Campbell, KY. Following many tours of duty overseas, SSG Shannon volunteered to serve in Iraq from his duty station in Camp Casey, Korea and served as the Senior Sniper of the Ghost Recon Platoon with the 1/503rd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division in 2004 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On November 13, 2004, SSG Shannon was wounded after receiving a gunshot wound to the head in a gunfight in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. He was then routed to Walter Reed Army Medical Center where he spent three years in recovery.
During his time at Walter Reed, SSG Shannon used his leadership skills to create vast improvements and awareness for veteran care issues at Walter Reed. He testified before Congress after he was featured in the “Walter Reed and Beyond” series of news articles by The Washington Post, which won a record 6 Pulitzer Prize awards and the Public Service Medal for the breaking coverage on our country’s broken military health care system. SSG Shannon, a decorated service member, was officially retired from the Army in June 2009 after more than 16 years of active duty service and 23 years of overall service. In December 2009 he moved his wife and three sons to Colorado, where he continues serving his community and country. SSG Shannon remains active in veteran outreach and advocacy efforts with his wife, Torrey Shannon. Their combined efforts focus on issues that impact service members, veterans and their families through public speaking events, the media, government and non-profit programs, and improving government legislation.
Aside from the Pulitzer Prize stories in The Washington Post and testifying before Congress, SSG Shannon has also been featured in various news and media outlets.
An example of SSG Shannon’s Congressional testimony can be viewed here:
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Shannon: My biggest concern? My biggest concern is having the young men and women that have had their lives shattered in service to their country to get taken care of. That’s my biggest concern.
Waxman: Staff Sgt, John Shannon, that’s your biggest concern and it’s got to be the biggest concern of all Americans. I think people are shocked when they heard about the Washington Post story…
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