Va. Beach soldier, hurt in Iraq, dies (Shannon L. Squires)

Funeral takes place on same day that DOD announces his passing

For months Shannon Squires lay in a San Antonio hospital, swaddled in bandages, sedated, virtually comatose, unable to speak or to recognize people by his bedside.

And then, in mid-August, he awakened to talk with his mother, Velma.

But on Aug. 28, Squires, a 25-year-old Army corporal from Virginia Beach, died at the Brooke Army Medical Center burn unit. He had suffered burns over 52 percent of his body when a roadside bomb blew up near his convoy on April 21 while it was on a supply run between Kuwait and Baghdad.

Squires was buried in a Virginia Beach cemetery Tuesday, the same day the Defense Department released information about his death.

"He spent more than three months (at Brooke) in a struggle to recover from burns," Maj. Gen. Richard Rowe told the funeral assembly. "His mother was at his side the whole time.

"About a month ago, with his mother seeing her son coming out of his coma and being able to talk with him, there were days of great hope. She was happy to have those moments."

Said Marie Squires, Shannon's grandmother: "We really thought he was getting better."

Squires was a 1999 graduate of Tallwood High School in Virginia Beach. He worked at various jobs before enlisting in the Army in 2002.

"He was into cars and computers," said Ralph Squires, who spent a month with his son in the hospital at San Antonio. "He could really do things with computers."

Ralph Squires said his son "was outgoing, but shy. And he really grew up in the Army."

Dale Gagliano of Williamsburg was familiar with her nephew's interest in cars. "He helped his father restore an old MG in high school," she said.

Ralph Squires said his son was to get out of the Army in 2007.

Shannon Squires was in his second deployment to Iraq, this one dating back to October. He was assigned to the Army's Fort Bragg, N.C.-based 3rd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment, 18th Field Artillery Brigade.

From the Daily Press

Note: Due to problems with blogger we were unable to post news of the fallen for the last 10 days. This post is part of the update from that period.