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SB High grad earns Silver Star for bravery in Iraq

Jan-29-2006 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

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Michel Nolan, Staff Writer

Staff Sgt. Shannon Kay recalls the fireball as the suicide car bomber rammed the rear of his Stryker armored infantry vehicle.

The massive explosion and subsequent firefight are seared in the Rancho Cucamonga native's memory.

"It was a huge physical force - the biggest I ever felt," said Shannon, 29. "Some of the guys inside were kind of unconscious, so we dropped a ramp and dragged people out. It was just a natural reaction - any soldier would have done the same."

Shannon's actions that day, his courage under fire as he saved the lives of seven members of his squad on a bloody road in Western Mosul, Iraq, earned him the Silver Star.

According to the military report, "The fireball was enormous and the Kevlar blankets, tires and other components of the Stryker were on fire. The entire area was littered with burning debris."

Shannon, who was bleeding from shrapnel wounds to his head, shoulder and hand, refused medical attention and helped put out the vehicle fire while under ambush attack from small arms, rocket-propelled grenades, or RPGs, and mortar fire.

"I wanted to live up to what I thought a soldier is," said Shannon by phone from Fort Benning, Ga., where he is now an instructor in the Army Squad Designated Marksmanship Program.

"I've seen multiple firefights before, but they do kind of surprise you. Once you're over there, you say 'this is the drill now' and just do your job."


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