25393 Shaughnessey, Peter Michael 
 
    USMA1964 
    25393 
    A1 
    Deceased 
 
View Eulogy  Eulogy
 
 
John Ward's Directory Entry 
(Click here for information) 
 
 At 9:30 a.m., 8/14/99, under overcast skies, eighteen of us gathered at Peter's gravesite in the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, 23029 N Cave Creek Road, where Peter Michael Shaughnessy's remains are interred in section 45, grave 1511.  In attendance were: 

Peter's mother:   Nadine Shaughnessey, tel: (602) 956 3365 
Brother:             Retired Army SFC Philip, tel: (602) 956-8258, and son Marcus, 
Sister:               Ann McCage, tel: (980) 949-1148, with husband Travis; 
                        son Raymond & wife Mary and daughter Rachel; son Shaun. 
Close family friends. 
Classmates:       Mike and Marge Conway, Norm and Holly Grunstad, Rich Davis, and Dirck Schou. 

A-1 Companymate Mike Conway, tie flapping and dark hair ruffling in the breeze,  reminded us of many of Peter's finer traits and of his devilish Irish wit and irreverence for most things military, particularly company commander Mike's orders firstie year.   He reminded us of the awesome and enduring influence West Point has on our lives.  After her tears, Peter's mother, an elegant lady holding her delicate umbrella against what little sun we had, spoke of  Peter courageously enduring several years of poor health, comforted by rediscovered faith.  Peter lived his last three years with her.  Peter's sister, Ann, smiled as she remembered how her cookies sent from nearby Marymount, often kept him and several classmates from wasting away.  She told us what a good cook was Peter.  His brother, Philip, said that from the time of his birth in the Panama Canal Zone, Peter was called by family and friends "Pedro Miguel,"  and with some luck, a street in a new Phoenix development will soon bear that name in his honor. 

Philip, Ann and Peter's mother told us about an earlier time in Saigon, 1952 to 1954, when Peter's father was military attaché.  Ann attended a school in Dalat and Peter's father, Colonel Leo William Henry Shaughnessey, USMA 1934, visited the French positions at Dien Bien Phu several times during the fighting.  Philip recounted an overland family vacation trip from Saigon to Phnom Penh.  He did not recall any encounters with rebels or roadblocks or mines, but he did remember that upon arrival he an Peter crashed so hard they could not be awakened to visit the great temple of Angkor Wat  with the rest of the family.    Peter was loved by these people and I think they were helped by this brief coming together at Peter's headstone.  His classmates left feeling close to this good family. 

Dirck T. Schou 

 
 
 

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