Show ly as I coukl I said no—then immediately regretted iL ‘Boy’ 1 thought to mysdf ‘I Mew it because I really like this guy’” Shannon already had been through an unhappy marriage to her high school sweetheart and had not dated in the three years since her divoice Bom and raised in Southern California she was a devout Evangelical Christian troubled by a sense of guilt over her broken marriage vows “I had an unforgiving quality about But the marriage had gotten off to a shaky start and gone downhill from there According to one interpretation ofthe Bible two legitimate grourefc for (fivorce are abandonment and adultery— and Kathryn had provided Mike with both While still married she left Mike to live with another man (whom she later married) “That really crushed Mike”5hannon sail 1br while it even made him doubt his leadership ability as a Marine As in my case the CIA offered him a fresh start myself and didn’t know anymore where I was supposed to fit in the world” she said “So 1 decided not to get attached to anyone ever again and to live a single celibate life" Not long after her divorce Shannon By the time Mike graduated from CIA training in December 2000 he already had a legal separation from li ‘ Kathryn been awarded temporary cus- tody of their daughters and believed of Trinity Law School in Shannon Spann with (M) Emily 4 AHton Santa Ana Calif had seen an ad in 10 and dako 11 months at thair father's who was dean in Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day 2002— six months after ho was killod In Afghanistan grave The Economist magazine for a job at the CIA The headline asked: “Do You Have What It Takes?" “I recall thinking ‘Of course I have what it takes' "Shannon said “It was sort of a challenge to me a good chance for a fresh start in life So I applied to the CIA and was accepted” In the summer of 1999 Shannon joined Mike Spann’s class at CIA headquarters There they underwent 18 months of comrigorous instruction in bat sabotage evasive-drivin- g techniques and the use of weapons explosives and higlHech communications equipment A lot of the training was done through and the resimulation and cruits were constantly evaluated in writing by the instructors “You really had to have a thick skin in order to take it" Shannon said “But becausemy relationship with Mike was blossoming at the same time I found that I had the to withstand all the intense never find the words to fully tell you how much I sincerely love you The simple fact is there are no words worthy enough for you You certainly are God's gift to a hardened and broken-dow- n heart when I needed it most " 'It seems I can -e-m- ail artillery export pilot reseuo divar US Marino CIA Special Operations officer— in Afghanistan in October 2001 hand-to-ha- 'vy &!&&£ v role-playi- ng H w r ce scrutiny 1 guess being validated by someone like Mike whom I highly respected' 1001 PMK before you're married is really outside the scope of a Christian family But we did the best we could at the time” lb his colleagues in Special Ops Mike was a formidable figure —parachutist artillery expert sharpshooter rescue diver and pilot But ns Shannon had reason to know he also was a sensitive man not afraid to show his feelings “r seem I can never find the words tofidly tell you how much I since rely love you" helped me to be less hard on myself” Shannon was pleased to discover that Mike was a practicing Christian An all- American boy from a small town in the rolling hills of northwest Alabama Mike grew up with dreams of becoming a Mar rine and later joining the FBI or CIA In his early 20s he married an Alabama girl Kathryn Ann Webb During his seven-yea- r stint in the Marine Corps they had two daughters Alison and Emily PMUM MMAZM MMUST Mike Sfxmn to Shannon Spann March 28 2001 Mike Shannon on March 28 2001 “The simple there is are no words worthy enough fact — he was getting a divorce But Kathryn who had been diagnosed with cancer refused to sign the divorce agreement To complicate matters further Shan- non became pregnant with Mike’s child “This isn’t the tidiest part of our story” Shannon said “Having a child I for you You certainly an God's gift to heart a hardened and broken-dow- n when I needed it most You make me a better hierunbeingjorjust knowing you” In the spring of 2001 Shannon's and Mike’s lives took several sharp twists - and turns Mike's estranged wife Kathryn relented and agreed to a divorce Shannon gave birth to a son Jakein June A few days after that she and Mike were married And four months later Mike Spann was ordered to go to Afghanistan as part of the first wave of US forces Before he left Mike wrote a note to a close CIA colleague: “ don 't mean to sound dramatic I'm sun this will be a piece of cake but if anything happens to me I want you to be the one to tell Shannon I don 't want her jo hear it from someone she doesn 't know' On a dark night in October Mike and his team clad in traditional Afghan garb —baggy shirts long vests and woolen “palooT hats— entered Afghanistan in an unmaiked helicopter They made contact with friendly Northern Alliance forces set up headquarters in a mud house ate local food and used horses with wooden saddles for transportation At night they took turm guarding their radio On Mike's and push-up-s watch he would do sit-u“Mike was the kind of guy who right continuec ps |