Mission of service: Shawn Morgan extends his commitment to veterans beyond military

Shawn Morgan is helping veterans connect with their communities through the Wounded Warrior Project.

The 12-year U.S. Army veteran from Keller, now medically retired, works as regional program director to help other veterans by providing resources to aid with their transition from military service.

“I think growing up and back then, I’ve always been a hard worker and always willing to help step in and help others,” Morgan, a former staff sergeant, said. “I think what’s different today is definitely my life experiences and then how that’s just led me to being, I guess, more empathetic, being more calculated in things that I do, and being able to take a step back and look at the bigger picture of decisions that I make.”

Morgan’s military service began in January 2005 when he arrived at Fort Lewis, Washington. The experience felt more real after he arrived at his first duty station in the Middle East as a 22-year-old leader.

“From day one when we got there, we were responsible for establishing a new unit, a new set way that the Army was going to train and deploy troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, and from the time that I arrived there in January 2005, we knew that we were were on the list to deploy,” said the native of Bowie, Texas. “So you know the people that were around me and the training we did was all that we were going to have when that time was going to be called for us to deploy to Iraq.”

Leading people into combat for the first time was eye-opening.

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Branch: U.S. Army 
Rank: E-6, Staff Sergeant 
Years in service: 2004 – 2014
Current title: Regional program director at Wounded Warrior Project
Definition of service: Helping others to make someone else’s life better.

“Now, I’ve got the responsibility to take people to combat and bring them home with me and look after them,” he said. “I think that that was probably the heaviest. That’s when I first experienced (something) like that: ‘Oh like I am responsible for somebody else’s life.’”

Morgan was shot through the right shoulder when his squad was ambushed in Iraq on May 20, 2007. He was flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and underwent multiple surgeries before returning to Fort Lewis. He arrived home two days before the birth of his first child.

Although he was a new father, he made the commitment to redeploy to Iraq.

Morgan said Martin Arguello, a former staff sergeant, was an inspirational leader who had an impact on his life.

“We were in his squad, and you know, from the moment he showed up, he took care of us,” Morgan said. “He trained us like we were zoned, and really taught us a lot, you know, job-wise, but also taught us a lot about leadership.”

People join the military because they want to give back, Morgan said. 

These days, the public is more aware of issues facing veterans, he said.

Morgan said by 2014, he recognized the toll of his combat injury and years of unaddressed post-traumatic stress. That prompted him to navigate the path to medically retire from the military.

“I think you know the public wants to help out transitioning service members — they want to be involved in that,” he said. “They want to support the military. … I think the civilian world understanding what that transition looks like and being able to provide that support maybe earlier on in a soldier’s life, because you know they might sign up for four or five years, but maybe they get out after two years, right? So you know the population being more proactive, maybe being engaged with the active duty military, and not necessarily after the veterans get out.”

Morgan said his desire to help veterans led him to his current role with the Wounded Warrior Project.

“It led me to where I’m at,” he said. “In my current role I serve veterans. I am still engaged with the active duty military and stuff. I’m just serving in a different capacity.”

He said he informs ex-military about resources available to help them transition back to civilian life.

“I wish I would have known about the resources and things that are available to the military while I was in,” he said. “I think it’s come a long way since then. So like I said, I think the end of my military career has allowed me to serve in a different capacity in helping active duty soldiers, airmen, Marines, and the veterans across the country.”

Working with Wounded Warrior Project, Morgan said the big difference is that “it’s a broader scope and scale of the things that you can get involved in.”

“I think service to me is looking outside of your own personal needs and being able to set those aside to be able to help somebody else,” Morgan said.

Since the public supports the military, he said, soldiers transitioning back into civilian life shouldn’t be seen as a burden since their experience is different.

It’s important to understand that a soldier’s transition is different because they go from a structured environment where food and supplies are provided, Morgan said.

“Now they’re faced in this world where now they’ve got to find a job and they’ve got to take care of their family and stuff,” he said. ”So just being able to provide that assistance, I think, is invaluable.”

Morgan said there are ways to engage with the military population before they leave the service.

“I think the more that we can engage the military population before the transition, I think will set people up for success getting out,” he said. “Was that the case years ago? No, I don’t think so. But I think it’s being seen now in the opportunities for service members as they’re getting out. Hopefully, will grow, and that they can be better positioned as they transition out.”

Morgan said he saw a recent social media post about a mother with two children with cancer who was asking for help taking down a trampoline to Keller.

“Being a leukemia survivor myself, I reached out and was like, ‘Hey, like I’m free today. I can come help you.”

Morgan took his 5-year-old daughter with him and he spent an hour taking apart a trampoline for someone to pick up.

“I just made her life a little easier after everything that her and her family are going through, and we made somebody else’s life better because they were able to take home the trampoline as well, right?” he said. “So, like, being able to set aside whatever you’re doing to be able to help others and be selfless, I think is my definition of service.”

Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at [email protected].

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