Lt. Shannon Meehan’s Beyond Duty
Lt. Shannon Meehan was a decorated tank commander who was displaying exceptional leadership abilities during his tour of duty in Iraq. On one mission, when they were clearing a dangerous area house by house, he called in an air strike on a suspected insurgents location. He followed all procedure and even went further, sending loudspeakers and translators directly in front of the house to warn everyone inside to get out. Despite visual identification, local Intel, loudspeaker warnings, the worst happened. The precision guided bomb destroyed a house with a family inside. Beyond Duty is the story of how Lt. Meehan has been struggling with the consequences of his decision.
I told Lt. Meehan on air that I wished I could just hug him and tell him that it was ok, that he followed his training, went even further and had nothing to be ashamed of or feel guilty about. I said to him that as a citizen he was fighting for, I was perfectly comfortable with what he did, despite the outcome that nobody wanted. A literal casualty of war this was. This book boiled down to its essence is this, it is about the difference between us and them. Our enemies who gleefully murder innocents and use civilians as shields. And us, specifically Lt. Meehan, who are so considerate and cautious about respecting innocent life, even as they operate in the world’s worst hell holes, putting themselves in greater danger to do so. It is a sin that a man like Lt. Meehan is haunted by what happened. I pray that he is able to put this incident in perspective and find the peace that he deserves and the future that he dreamed about with his dedicated wife AJ.
Lt. Meehan collaborated with Roger Thompson, a professor of English at VMI where Meehan went to college. Beyond Duty is an exceptional book. It takes the reader to Iraq, to feel all sides of a deployed soldiers life, from the boredom, the bullshit to the battles and the searing heat inside the tank. This is a book that every American should read in order to get a full accounting of what it means to send men and women off to war. You may finish, but you won’t forget Beyond Duty. I can’t recommend this one highly enough.
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September 21, 2009 9:57 am 
Hi Kevin I agree with you 100 percent this man went above the call of duty he dis more than anyone including likely even his commanders did. I heard this man being interview
I wanted so badly to let him know that he was a great guy and that he could let go.I will pray for him to recover and heal up.
great show as always
Brian,
I may try to get Lt. Meehan on the show again this weekend so that he can hear from the callers like you. He needs to understand that we support him because of the way he conducted himself, not because of the outcome.
Kevin
That would be great Kevin — this was a superb interview.
Had President Bush not attacked Iraq, then many of our troops including my two sons would not experience the horrors of war. My oldest served in the Marines (Inf) in Afghanistan and Iraq, his younger brother currently serves in Iraq. I’m an Army veteran and did not support the war in Iraq. My best wishes to him and his family.
[...] has widely been praised for his leadership [...]
[...] Expolsive Device). He has been diagnosed to be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In relation to this, it is reported: Lt. Shannon Meehan was a decorated tank commander who was displaying [...]
Hi Kevin,
I think you miss the point completely. There is no us and them. There is only us. Killing hurts the killer as much as the killed. Killing, even with the best intentions, disconnects us from our humanity. We must work very very hard to prevent war so that fine people like Shannon don’t have to kill or be killed.
Kevin,
I just want to say that its not up to you or anyone else to think that killing civilians is “OK”. I read Lt. Shannon Meehan book and I think its great and I do have a lot of respect for him. Non the less it is unacceptable to think killing is “OK” and in the case of civilians I do not think anyone would agree on that.