Eternal rest grant unto Shannon Mary Kent, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. She left behind a husband and two very young boys in the service of her country. he tried for a reassignment to non-combat duty after becoming a mother, but was denied. Throughout her military career, she sought out the difficult and dangerous assignments. She tried for a reassignment to non-combat duty after becoming a mother, but was denied. Her three-year-old pleaded with her not to go. She was killed by a suicide bomber in Syria. Her loss is beyond tragic.
The doubts crowded in late at night, after the kids were in bed and the dishes were put away.
In the months after she got her deployment orders, Navy cryptologist Shannon Kent spent her days preparing to join a Special Operations task force in Syria battling the Islamic State. For Shannon, the mission was the culmination of a 15-year military career: language exams, fitness tests, repeated deployments alongside Navy SEALs.
And yet, after four stints in Iraq and Afghanistan, she had thought those deployments, pursuing extremist leaders, were behind her. Her younger son was now barely a year old. Her 3-year-old, Colt, was just old enough to know that a war was taking his mother away. “Momma no fight bad guys,” he told her.