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Irish American Iraqi war vet Shannon Meehan running for PA state congress

By
DECLAN O'KELLY,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Saturday, March 6, 2010, 12:01 PM
Updated Saturday, March 6, 2010, 12:17 PM

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Decorated Iraqi war veteran Shannon Meehan has announced that he is running for the Pennsylvania State congressional seat in the 163rd State House District.

Former Army Capt. Meehan, a married father of one, was seriously injured by an IED in Iraq, and he penned a memoir with Roger Thompson of his time at war entitled “Beyond Duty: Life on the Frontline in Iraq.”

In 2007, Meehan suffered a traumatic brain injury in an IED explosion, and has been treated for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

During his service Meehan, a tank commander, called in a strike on a house, not knowing that an Iraqi family was inside.  The family was killed in the attack.

In the CNN interview he was upfront about how the Iraqi family’s death has affected him.

“Ever since that day back in Iraq in June, when I took the lives inadvertently of an innocent Iraqi family I have been forever changed.  Their deaths, the memories of those children and that family, they will follow me.  They always will.”

Now medically retired from the Army, the Irish American wants to continue serving his country in the political world.

Wife A.J. and new baby son Brady have given Meehan the strength to ask the public to elect him for public office.

“What I realized was that I am not done yet, my service does not have to end there (Iraq); I can continue and I will continue to serve,” continued Meehan on the CNN report.

On his website, Meehan outlines how his experience in Iraq could prepare him for a job in state politics.

“While serving in Iraq, I brought rival factions together to build roads, schools and hospitals, all while keeping costs low according to a strict budget. I helped bring people together to rebuild homes and communities, and I will approach my duties as a lawmaker with the same commitment to teamwork, cooperation and meaningful results,” he says.

To win the seat, Meehan will have to out 32-year incumbent Nicholas Micozzie.

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