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'Duty' calls
Soldier's frontline story pushed others to back burner
Capt. Shannon P. Meehan, co-author of "Beyond Duty," is an Army tank platoon leader from Upper Darby, Pa.Courtesy
By MATT GLEASON World Scene Writer
Published: 11/29/2009 2:20 AM
Last Modified: 11/29/2009 8:54 AM
For more information about
“Beyond Duty, visit tulsaworld.com/beyond-duty
Roger Thompson hung up the phone and cried. The English professor from Tulsa's tears fell because he had let another man's experiences in Iraq fully form in his mind — no matter how horrific.
That was the only way for Thompson to tell the story of Capt. Shannon P. Meehan, an Army tank platoon leader from Upper Darby, Pa.
Together, the 39-year-old Virginia Military Institute professor and his former VMI student co-authored "Beyond Duty: Life on the Frontline in Iraq."
Meehan lived the story. Thompson put it into words.
"Beyond Duty" chronicles the years leading up to, and the aftermath of, Meehan calling for a missile strike on what he thought was an IED (improvised explosive device) factory, or a terrorist cell. Instead, it was the home of a family of eight, including children.
Later, after Meehan suffers a traumatic brain injury from an improvised explosive in Iraq, he recalls in the book:
"I can't tell the story of the children I killed. I don't know who they were or who they were hoping to become I only know that I'm the one who ended their lives, and when I was blown up to the sky, part of me didn't want to come back down and open my eyes on the Iraqi land. Part of me didn't want to ever see my own life again."
In the book's prologue, Meehan tells the story of that day in the summer of 2007 — one he's relived over and over in the years since. Then he declares: "This is my story trying to order the ruins of that day."
A story worth telling
In the fall of 2007, Thompson was on sabbatical from VMI to pen a book about Ralph Waldo Emerson and the history of rhetoric.
Then he received a mass e-mail from Meehan, just like Thompson had since that summer. This e-mail, however, found Meehan confessing about the accidental civilian killings.
Thompson remembers reading that e-mail in a Harvard research library, then thinking to himself: "What am I doing? Here's this guy going through this and I'm sitting here writing a book that three people will read — And I know all three of those people."
Meehan had a story worth telling. Thompson wanted to tell it, so he asked Meehan if he'd be willing to co-author a book. After much thought, Meehan agreed.
In July 2008, the duo began four months of interviews, which were, at times, so intense that Meehan would disappear for days to avoid them. Thompson, too, put them off. Grading papers always made for an easy excuse.
"We had to take a break," Thompson said. "It was overwhelming."
Eventually, though, the duo completed their fast-tracked book, which hit shelves in late September of this year.
"Part of what made this book possible was that Shannon trusted that I wouldn't judge what happened," Thompson said, "and that I would put myself into it fully.
"He and I have talked about this afterward, what makes a book like this possible is two people involved and interrelating in some way — not simply reporting."
Lately, Thompson said Meehan is "much more even now" and is considering a possible career in politics back home in Pennsylvania. He and his wife are expecting their first son in January.
The Fort Hood link
“Beyond Duty” recently grabbed headlines
in the Dallas Morning News, and other media
outlets, in the aftermath of the Fort Hood
massacre by alleged shooter Maj. Nidal Malik
Hasan.
While stationed at Fort Hood, the book’s
co-author Capt. Shannon Meehan, who lives
in Pennsylvania now, received therapy from a
psychiatrist who worked with Hasan.
Former Tulsan Roger Thompson, who coauthored
“Beyond Duty,” explained the connection
between Hasan and the book.
“(Meehan’s) psychiatrist so liked the book
that he bought 10 copies to hand out to everyone
in the office, because he thought it would
help them relate to the soldiers,” Thompson
said. “Hasan had a copy of the book within two
weeks of the shooting.
“Shannon was invited to sign books at the
office. Hasan refused his signature and refused
to come out of his office to meet him.”
Thompson hopes to turn the attention of the
book away from Hasan to the foundation of the
book itself.
“For us, the whole book is about confession
and the power of story,” Thompson said. “What
Hasan threatened to do is shut down a system
that already stigmatizes soldiers seeking help
and telling their story. We don’t want that
stigma. For us, the book counters that in a way.
It’s OK to tell your story no matter how painful.
Find someone to tell it to.”
Matt Gleason 581-8473
matt.gleason@tulsaworld.com
By MATT GLEASON World Scene Writer
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