The 2,996: Cmdr. Dan Frederic Shanower

In honor of September 11, the Valley stops Politicking to remember those who have passed:

2006: Donna Marie Rothernberg;

2009: Patrick O'Keefe 

And this year, the Valley honors Cmdr. Dan Frederic Shanower

He worked at the Pentagon on the morning of 9/11 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. 

Commander Shanower of Naperville, IL was working in Navel Intellegence the day he died.

Here is what the Washington Post wrote about this hero:


Navy Cmdr. Daniel F. Shanower had been posted around the world in his 15 years as a naval officer, but he was happy with his transfer to the staff of the Navy Command Center just more than a year ago, said his brother Jonathan Shanower, a lawyer in Naperville, Ill.

"He loved being in Washington," Shanower said. "He had spent some time there as a student at American University in the 1980s, and he loved politics."


Daniel Shanower, 40, was a lanky man with an easy smile who liked to spend his weekends hanging out at a Xando coffeehouse, his neighbors in Vienna said. On hot days, he was often seen behind his condominium complex washing his Lexus.


Jonathan Shanower said his brother was a very private person and revealed little about his personal life or much about his work, which had taken him to Japan, the Philippines and, for several tours, the aircraft carrier USS Midway.


"We didn't talk business," Shanower said. "Family was important."


Shanower grew up in Naperville, one of five siblings and the son of a schoolteacher, Patricia, and a retired college professor, Donald.


He went to Naperville Central High School, where he graduated in 1979, and then on to a private liberal arts institution, Carroll College in Wisconsin, where he graduated with a communications degree in 1983.

He applied and was accepted into naval officer training in Pensacola, Fla., shortly thereafter, his brother said. Shanower lived quietly in a town house community and was studying to receive his master's degree at Georgetown University, his brother said.

There is an award given by Naval Intelligence in his honor:

The Chief of Naval Operations Commander Dan F. Shanower Intelligence Specialist of the Year Award was established in 1995 and endowed by the family of CDR Shanower in 2002.  The award recognizes leadership, performance of duty, special accomplishments, and overall contribution to command efficiency, morale, and welfare of the command to which the individual is assigned. Four awards are given annually: both a junior (E1-E4) award and a senior (E5-E6) award to Intelligence Specialists assigned to an afloat/operational command and a junior and senior award to Intelligence Specialists assigned to a shore-based command. The award consists of a Certificate of Recognition, a $250 cash award, and a 1-year membership in the Naval Intelligence Professionals.

10 years later, we honor the fallen and wish them G-dspeed.

I am lucky to have honored Cmdr. Shanower this year. 


Never forget the fallen