Soldier Dies of Injuries From War

Virginia Beach Man Was Hospitalized For Four Months

Just when his family thought he would pull through, a Virginia Beach soldier wounded four months ago in Iraq died of his injuries, Army officials said yesterday.

"We had high hopes he would be home in time for Christmas," Ralph B. Squires said of his older son, Army Cpl. Shannon L. Squires. Burial was Tuesday in Virginia Beach with full military honors.

Squires, 25, died Aug. 28 in San Antonio, where he was being treated at the Brooke Army Medical Center for wounds he suffered after a roadside bomb detonated near his vehicle in late April. More than half of his body was burned, his father said. It was Squires's second tour in Iraq, and he worked as a field artillery tactical data systems specialist.

A 1999 graduate of Tallwood High School in Virginia Beach, Squires joined the Army in 2002 because he wanted to "make a difference," his father said. He also hoped to make use of his knowledge of computers and machinery.

"He was a good boy, but I know all parents say that about their kids," his father said, his voice soft. "But it's true. Mine was a hero, plain and simple."

Before enlisting, Squires worked in technical support for Gateway Computers. He loved taking apart -- and putting back together -- computers, his father said, and he enjoyed being online. He was infinitely curious and was always eager to work on his family's cars. Once, he learned to change the timing belt by following directions from the Internet.

"The first time, it wasn't quite right," said Ralph Squires, 57. "So he took it apart and did it again. That's the way he was. He was patient and good with his hands."

Shannon Squires was the older of two sons, his father said. He said Shannon's mother, a registered nurse, had been in San Antonio to help care for him.

Online, the soldier had many friends, several of whom have left notes of sympathy on his MySpace.com account since his death. The photograph on Squires's page shows him dressed in fatigues, a weapon in his hands and a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips. He wrote that he had less than one year left on his Army contract and that he was a Scorpio who loved long walks on the beach.

"And," he wrote, "my life is not any way near being complete."

While in the Army, Squires earned numerous honors, among them a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. He was assigned to Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment, 18th Field Artillery Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps Artillery, and was based at Fort Bragg, N.C.