Shawn L. English killed by I.E.D.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Army Capt. Shawn English enjoyed a rare family chat with his wife and three young sons via Web cam from Iraq this weekend, laughing and telling jokes. Hours later, Army officers came to the family's home and said he had been killed by a roadside bomb.

English, 35, was training Iraqi Army officers and said he had seen heavy combat in recent weeks, his father-in-law, Curt Daily, said Tuesday.

"I know he and his men had been ambushed by one group of seven vehicles. An Iraqi captain lost his life in that engagement," Daily said. "He said privately on Saturday, when the kids left the room, that he had just been involved in a five-hour action.

"We could see that he was tired, but we knew we were fortunate and we were thankful to have the opportunity to talk to him," Daily said.

English was an Army deep-sea diver based in Panama City Beach, where he lived with his wife, Tricia, and three sons, Nathan, 7, Noah, 5, and Austin, 3.

He spent nearly all his adult life in the Army. He served in an armored cavalry unit during the first Gulf War, later joined a Ranger battalion and became a diver in 1999.

From the Naples News