John Shaw Vaughan
Burial Details
Obituaries
Vail Daily - June 8, 2006
Battle Mountain grad killed in Iraq
Family members remember protective big brother, caring grandson and avid outdoorsman
EDWARDS — Lt. John Shaw Vaughan, a 2001 Battle Mountain High School graduate, was killed in combat in Mosul, Iraq, after his platoon was attacked Wednesday. He was 23.
"He will be extremely missed," said Becca Vaughan, his sister. "He was the best brother that I could ever ask for."
Vaughan, who was a lieutenant and platoon leader, served in the 172nd Infantry brigade in the Army. He had just accepted a four-year post in Fairbanks, Alaska, and was then deployed to Iraq in May for a six-month tour of duty.
Vaughan's mother, Sarah, who lives near Edwards, and the rest of his family learned of his death around 12 a.m., Thursday.
"The military chaplain and the notification officer were waiting in her driveway when she drove home from Denver last night (Wednesday) at 11," said Dick Shaw, Sarah's brother.
Vaughan was an avid fly-fisherman, skier, and four-wheeler who was born at the Vail Valley Medical Center and lived in the valley his whole life. He loved to build his own jeeps, nicknaming one of them "Hercules."
"He was just always an outdoorsman and loved the military," said his mother. "From the time he was a boy, it was just his dream."
In high school, John was on the cross-country Nordic ski team. The family shared John's love for skiing, and would go to the slopes together on Christmas Day, Becca said.
"Those were the last family pictures we had together — on Christmas Day," she said.
After graduating from high school, John headed south to attend college at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., where he participated in the ROTC program.
John, who was ROTC commander, was one of three ROTC members to go through jump training at Fort Benning, Ga., where he earned his wings. There, he learned how to jump out of the back of an airplane.
John graduated from college and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 2005.
Doting brother
Becca said she remembers how John took her out bowling a couple years back.
"He was back in the mountains, just celebrating," she said. "He turned 21 and I turned 16 in the same year, and he found that extremely exhilarating because I could drive and he could go out to drink."
They decided to try human bowling — he slid himself down the lanes to knock over the pins. The two ended up getting kicked out.
Photo by Special to the Daily
Lt. John Shaw Vaughan was deployed to Iraq in May after undergoing additional training in Texas. His mother said he kept lollipops in his pocket, which he gave to Iraqi children.
When John was 16, he drove his Jeep Wrangler into a ditch, and came back home to ask his sister for a hand.
"My first time driving a car was pulling him out of a ditch when I was in the fourth grade," she said.
Becca entered Florida State University this past year while her brother was going through basic officer training at Fort Benning. There, he earned an award for excellence in leadership.
"We spent pretty much every weekend together hanging out," she said.
He was also close to his maternal grandmother, Rebecca Shaw, who lives near Fort Benning.
"I live on a farm," Rebecca Shaw said. "I think he just considered it his when he was there."
"I talked to him just Saturday, he seemed like everything was going just fine, and it made my day," she said.
Sarah said he would visit his grandmother at least once a month and care for her, helping her cross streets.
"He was a real Southern gentleman, although he grew up in Colorado," she said. "He was also very protective of his sister, acting as her guardian," Sarah said. "He always had a hand on her shoulder when she was little," she said. "The day she was born, he said it was the most special day in his life."
John was good at making his sister laugh.
"You had to be smart to get his jokes," Becca said. "He was just generally a good guy, you know. One of those ones that shouldn't have left."
Family members
Lt. John S. Vaughan is survived by his mother Sarah Vaughan; his sister, Rebecca Wyatt Vaughan; his maternal grandmother Rebecca Shaw, of Quincy, Fla.; his uncle Charles Richard Shaw, wife Cheryl and two nephews, of Golden; his aunt Leewood Shaw, of Tallahassee, Fla.; and his father, Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Vaughan of Las Vegas, Nev.
Loved camouflage shirt
Along with his wit, John was very personable and befriended many people, Becca said.
"Off of Myspace and Facebook, I have quotes and quotes from his friends like, 'You're amazing,' and, 'I've been touched by your life,'" she said.
Many of the comments remarked that her brother was very passionate about being a soldier, she said.
"He was so excited about being a soldier and representing his country," Becca said.
John was always wearing camouflage as a kid, so that his mother would have to wash the same shirt over and over again.
"This is what he wanted to do ever since he was 4 years old," said Sarah, who moved to the valley 31 years ago.
Wes Greenwald, a family friend who lives in Quincy, said John was a rare individual. When John went to Iraq, he told Greenwald, "People don't understand why we're here, but I figured it out after I got here."
Vail Daily - August 26, 2007
Sarah Vaughan and her daughter waited in a Florida airport as a plane carrying her son in a casket traveled from Maryland.
Other family members waited, too. But Sarah Vaughan, her daughter, Becca Vaughan, and John Shaw Vaughan had lived their whole lives together in the valley.
So Sarah and Becca Vaughan wanted to be the only family there when John Vaughan was carried out of the plane.
"When the plane came in with his body (Becca Vaughan) said, 'Mom I want it to be just us. He was ours'," said Sarah Vaughan, of Edwards.
More than a year later, the women will walk behind John Vaughan as he is carried to his grave in Arlington National Cemetery Oct. 12.
Vaughan, a 23-year-old U.S. Army lieutenant, was killed in Mosul, Iraq, when a sniper shot him in June 2006.
"He will be so honored there," Sarah Vaughan said. "It's just his place and the family, generations later, can go visit and he will be there in Arlington."
John Vaughan was born at the Vail Valley Medical Center and graduated from Battle Mountain High School in 2001.
He graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a degree in aviation business management and was commissioned as a U.S. Army lieutenant in 2005.
After officer training at Fort Benning, Ga., he was stationed in Fort Wainwright, Alaska. He was killed five weeks after he started his first tour in Iraq.
U.S. Army Executive Officer Jason Turner was John Vaughan's roommate in college. The two men were in Reserve Officers' Training Corps together and Vaughan was Turner's mentor and best friend, Turner said.
Vaughan provided valuable leadership and guidance in college, Turner said.
"I miss him, but I'm very proud of him," he said. "There's no better way to honor John than to have him buried in Arlington Cemetery."
John Perkins, commander of the Edwards Veterans of Foreign Wars, tried to persuade Vaughan not to go to Iraq when he met him for lunch shortly before Vaughan left for Iraq.
But Vaughan wanted to go to war, Perkins said.
"I thought to myself, thank God we've got young men like this," Perkins said.
John Vaughan will lie among honored people who died in wars and presidents, such as John F. Kennedy, Perkins said.
"You can just feel the history and the honor and integrity," when one visits Arlington Cemetery, he said.
At first, Sarah Vaughan wanted her son to be buried in a Florida cemetery, where family members lie. Then she thought of spreading his ashes where he enjoyed skiing or where he used to go four-wheeling in his jeeps he had a knack for restoring.
But nothing felt right until May, when she and Becca Vaughan traveled to Arlington Cemetery for a memorial service to honor those who died in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
The women knew then that John Vaughan, who was fiercely dedicated to being a soldier, belonged there, Sarah Vaughan said.
"It's the most moving place," Sarah said. "It's quiet and it's part of our country's history. It just felt right. That's what he would want."
Nowadays, Sarah Vaughan feels stronger than when she did even a couple months ago, the anniversary of her son's death.
But she still struggles to deal with the loss of her son, she said.
"It's just the forever that's so hard to take," Sarah Vaughan said.
She's fine with having her son buried almost 2,000 miles away because his spirit is around her when she rides horses and spends time in nature, she said.
"I feel his presence all the time," Sarah Vaughan said. "I feel like he's watching me all the time."
Vail Daily page A2 - September 11, 2021
A memorial service recognizing the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks will take place in Eagle County on Saturday.
A convoy of first responders and vehicles will meet at Ford Park in Vail at 12:30 p.m. and will depart for Edwards Freedom Park at 1 p.m. The community is welcome to line up along the route or join in at Freedom Park for the memorial service beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Since the start of the war on terror in 2001, Eagle County has lost three local servicemen.
Eagle County residents Derek Dennison and John Shaw Vaughan both died at age 23 while serving in the U.S. military and Lance Cpl. Evenor Herrera, of Gypsum, died at age 22. Herrera and Dennison both died in August of 2005, Vaughan died in June of 2006.
All three men graduated high school in Eagle County in 2001, a few months before the attacks.
Vaughan and Dennison were Cub Scouts together in Eagle County as children and both graduated from Battle Mountain High School in 2001. Herrera graduated Eagle Valley High School in 2001 and worked at the Vail Valley Jet Center for a year before becoming a U.S. Marine in November of 2002.
Dennison died in San Diego when he was serving in the U.S. Navy. Vaughan was killed in Mosul, Iraq, after being shot by a sniper. Herrera died from an improvised explosive device in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, about 35 miles west of Fallujah.
Herrera's brother, Balmore Herrera, said the military helped his brother find direction after high school. Evenor Herrera decided to join the Marines after learning that Balmore was also going to be a Marine.
"He wanted to serve a bigger purpose," Balmore said.
Evenor Herrera's first term in Iraq began in January of 2004. He fought in the first battle of Fallujah in April of 2004 before starting a second tour in March of 2005. He was five months into his second tour when he was killed.
After learning of his brother's death, Balmore decided not to reenlist.
"One son was enough for my mom to lose," Balmore said.
Balmore is now a police officer for the town of Avon. He said he enjoys talking about his brother in an effort to keep his memory alive.
A classic air medical helicopter landing is scheduled for 1:50 p.m. at Edwards Freedom Park with a memorial service beginning at 2 p.m. All are welcome to join.
"A person never really dies until they're forgotten," Balmore said.
Vail Daily - June 8, 2006
EAGLE COUNTY "As a youngster at the Eagle County Charter Academy, Lt. John Shaw Vaughan was passionate about two things hunting and flying," said Vaughan's former science teacher Jay Cerny, who is now the principal of the school.
"He got his pilots license the very first day he could," Cerny said.
Cerny remembered Vaughan's middle school science project "he wanted to see what type of ammunition was more consistent, the store-bought stuff or Vaughan's own hand-packed ammunition."
"I remember telling him, 'Are you sure you want to do something with artillery, man?' There were all these things we had to do because he was a minor and we were dealing with firearms, but he said, 'Yup, I want to do it,'" Cerny said. "He did a lot of work."
Out of 150 kids at the charter school science fair, Vaughan earned third place, a blue ribbon at the district level fair and went on to the regional fair where his project earned a lot of attention.
Military personnel were especially fascinated by Vaughan's project.
"Boy, the military, they were just really impressed," Cerny said. "A kid who can make his own ammo loads at that age, that's pretty impressive. It was very, very well received."
Vaughan might have been equally impressed with the military because he enrolled in ROTC when he went to college and was eventually deployed to Iraq. On Wednesday, Vaughan was killed in Mosul after his platoon was attacked and he was hit by small arms fire.
"God, what a tragedy," Cerny said. "When you lose a great kid, that just stinks. He was shy, but I feel like he opened up to me. He was much more mature than your average kid. He understood my dry wit humor better than the other kids, and for that reason, I had a stronger bond, a stronger relationship with him."
Vail Valley native Pat Nottingham had known Vaughan since they were tykes in Cub Scouts together, along with Nottingham's twin brother, David.
"We were youngsters just running around having a good time," Nottingham said. "Our families did trips together to Telluride. He was a quiet guy, very, very smart."
As the boys got older, they'd spend their days tromping through the woods hunting birds. And even after they went their separate ways in college, Vaughan would stop by Nottingham's home during school breaks to catch up.
"He'd stop by my folks' house, whether we were there or not, just to visit with our folks," he said. "Mom and Dad thought he was awesome, so did I. We'd laugh about girlfriends, swap stories, you know, normal guy stuff."
Although Vaughan was quiet, he had a lot of drive, Nottingham said.
"He was definitely going places," he said.
After leaving the Vail Valley, the first place Vaughan went was Emery-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida where he studied business administration and enrolled in the ROTC program.
To Jason Turner, Vaughan was more than a college roommate or even a best friend, he was Turner's mentor.
"I'm one year behind him in school, and I always performed at an optimum level because of everything he taught me," he said. "Everybody looked up to him. He was an infantry officer through and through."
Going to school in Florida, the two friends spent happy times cruising on the beach in Vaughan's Jeep, but Turner's fondest memories are of their trips back to Vail where they'd ski and hang out.
"You could tell he was always thinking. He was always thinking, thinking about being the best he could be," Turner said. "He was quiet, but he was strong."
As a fellow military man, Turner said he understands Vaughan's sacrifice.
"It's difficult, but he was doing his job," Turner said.
Veterans, perhaps, understand this best of all.
"When one of us goes down, whether it's in combat or not, it's personal, even if you don't know the kid," said Dan Smith, an Avon resident who served in the Army in Vietnam. "You feel for the person who's down and the wives and the children, the mothers, and daughters."
Local veterans are raising funds to build a memorial park alongside Freedom Pond in Edwards for fallen members of the military. One of the organizers, Pat Hammon, who served as a nurse in Vietnam, said Vaughan's name will be on the memorial.
"One of the inscriptions that goes on the memorial is 'This is the cost of freedom'," Smith said. "Everybody has an opinion on the war, good, bad, whatever. But those opinions cease to have values when there's a loss. An whether it's a good war or a bad war doesn't matter for the duration of that family's grieving."
Along with Vaughan's family, his friends, classmates and teachers are grieving too, trying to keep his life's work in perspective.
"We had a pretty special relationship," Turner said. "I'm really going to miss him. He was an individual who understood what it took to be a true friend, a true leader, a true American citizen."
