OUR DAUGHTER, THE SUPERHERO Brad Hosmer and Nancy Gardner, and their daughter Shannon, talk about the concern they felt when she decided to join the Army, and their pride at her strength and sense of duty.
he Army has given Shannon rare opportunities to explore her talents, her physical strength, and her curiosity about the world. Nancy was aware that her daughter longed to travel beyond her rural Massachusetts home and wanted her to be fulfilled in life.
“She needed to venture out of here. This is country; Shannon needed excitement.”
—Nancy Gardner
Shannon admits that she was prepared for her parents to be nervous when she announced that she was joining the Army, but she also knew they would be supportive of her decision. They haven't disappointed her.
“I feel with her energy, she just figured that the Army would give her that opportunity to step out, 'Show me some stuff, let me grab something here.'”
—Brad Hosmer
The close-knit family spends time together whenever they can. "When Shannon comes home, we load up the rigs and load up the 4-bys, and she wants to go wheeling," says Brad. "We set out for the day, wheeling, pack some lunch, make a day of it." Nancy adds, "And she has to drive, she can't just be a passenger."
“I remember saying, 'Are you sure, Shannon, you can handle this?' She goes, 'Dad, I just drove a Humvee for a year and a half, I think I can handle this.'”
—Brad Hosmer
Brad takes a lot of joy in his daughter's success in the Army, and jokingly credits some of her skill behind the wheel of a Humvee to the 4-wheeling he does with her. He kids that when it was time for her to "jump a curb, go down into a ditch . . ." she knew what to do, because she did it at home.
