Shaw, Alan

   Hometown:        Little Rock

   Age:                     31

   Rank:                  Staff Sergeant: United States Army - 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3^rd

                                Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division

   Cause:                Died in Baquba, Iraq, on February 9, 2007, from wounds suffered in combat

Army Sergeant Alan Shaw of Little Rock, Arkansas, died on February 9, 2007, in Baquba, Iraq, from injuries suffered when a bomb detonated while he and two other soldiers checked a building for weapons.  He was 31. Shaw was a member of the 1st Battalion, 12th Calvary Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Calvary Division based in Fort Hood, Texas.   

Shaw graduated from Wilbur D. Mills High School in Little Rock in 1994 and spent a year at Arkansas Tech in Russellville, Arkansas. At Arkansas Tech, he played defensive end on the football team.  Shortly thereafter, he joined the Marines in 1998 and served until 2002.  After his discharge, he decided to reenlist in the Army in 2004 and was deployed to Iraq. According to his mother, Noramae Shaw, “He was over there to keep us free, to get rid of the terrorists, and to help people in Iraq.  I think he did it because he needed to.”  His father, Jarrel Shaw, said, “He served his country and never had a complaint.  He got to go to different places and see different things.  He thought he was serving his country, protecting America.”  

He was remembered by friends and family as a natural leader with a kind heart and infectious smile.  The oldest of six siblings, he always looked out for his younger brothers.  He was also noted as a gifted athlete who taught himself to pole vault and once scored five touchdowns in a football game. He is survived by his wife, Sharrell; children, Austin, Jordan, and Damon; mother and father, and six siblings. As testament to his life, hundreds of people gathered for a memorial service in North Little Rock, Arkansas.  He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on February 21, 2008.