New Book Portrays Pine Plains Navy Hero Shannon Kent

Shannon M. Kent, the U.S. Navy officer who grew up in Pine Plains and whose life was cut short in Syria in 2019, is the subject of a new book, Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War, published in May by William Morrow. Co-authored by Joe Kent, her husband and a former Green Beret, and Marty Skovlund, Jr., a journalist and a former Army Ranger, the biography tells how Kent courageously applied her linguistic and cryptologic skills to wartime intelligence service in the Middle East.

Her mother, Mary Plover-Smith, who retired from teaching elementary school in Pine Plains in 2018, wrote about the book in an email to the Herald: ”Though it was a difficult read for me, it is well written and truly does her justice.” She added, “I think the book’s strengths are in its depiction of Shannon, her drive, determination, intelligence, resilience, and kindness, while offering a window into the depth of military commitment and sacrifice.”

After graduating from Stissing Mountain High School in 2001, Shannon Smith enlisted in the Navy in December 2003. She was assigned to the Navy Information Operations Command in Fort Gordon, Ga. (renamed Fort Eisenhower in 2022) and her career in intelligence services was underway. In 2007, she shipped out to Iraq offering intelligence support to a Navy SEALs unit. For her service there she received a Joint Service Commendation Medal, and the accompanying citation said she had “contributed directly to the capture of hundreds of enemy insurgents and severely degraded enemy combat capability.”

Kent’s facility with languages made her an effective cryptologic technician and intelligence operative in the Middle East. She became fluent in six Arabic dialects and, combined with her communication skills, had success in gaining intelligence on the location of high-value enemy combatants. Her abilities led her to be assigned to accompany a SEAL unit to Afghanistan in 2012.

Shannon and Joe Kent began a relationship in 2013 while they were training together and were married on Christmas Eve, 2014. They had two sons, Colt and Josh. 

In 2016, Kent had a simple operation to remove cancer from her thyroid. She was back to work within a few days, but the event had a fateful impact on her life. In early 2018, she was accepted into a very competitive clinical psychology Ph.D. program at the Uniformed Services University. However, the Navy, citing her previous cancer diagnosis, rescinded her acceptance. Her request for a waiver was refused.

In November 2018, Kent was assigned to her fifth combat deployment, this time in Syria, where she helped locate ISIS fighters. On Jan. 16, 2019, she was walking outside a cafe in Manbij when a suicide bomber struck, killing her, three other American and 11 Syrians. She was 35. Kent’s death prompted the Navy to revise its criteria for granting waivers in cases similar to hers.

Posthumously, Shannon received the rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer and her name was added to the National Cryptologic Memorial at the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade, Md. The memorial “honors and remembers those who gave their lives, ‘serving in silence,’ in the line of duty. It serves as an important reminder of the crucial role that cryptology plays in keeping the United States secure and of the courage of these individuals to carry out their mission at such a dear price.”

Shannon Kent is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.