Bright House Workers Hold Flag 2 Hours for Zack Shannon

Bright House vans lined up along both sides of Pinehurst Road on Monday to salute fallen Dunedin soldier Spc. Zack Shannon.

The vans — about 30 of them — began arriving early to prepare for the arrival of Shannon's deputy escort. 

Shannon, 21, is one of five soldiers who died when their helicopter went down during a night vision operation in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on March 11.

Two vans with boom lifts parked facing each other from the opposite side of the road, right in front of Dunedin High School, where Shannon spent four years in the Navy JROTC program.

Zack Shannon's older brother Steve Shannon, 25, and step-father Chip Allison both work for Bright House.

Two Bright House employees wearing hard hats — Kevin Hayes and Mark Kowalski — climbed inside the boom lifts at around 11 a.m.

They were raised into the air hovering over Pinehurst Road.

"We have a 5-by-9-foot flag," said Miles Springer, a longtime family friend and Bright House employee on the ground. 

As soon as the men were positioned just the right amount of space apart, Kowalski let out a folded American flag. Its colors spilled against the blue sky back drop.

He held onto the top red and white corner and handed the blue corner to Hayes.

And they stood, each gripping their corner, waiting for their beloved co-worker's son's remains.

Two hours later, Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies on motorcycles thundered into view.

Hundreds of supporters placed their hands over their hearts and watched as they led Zack Shannon's remains through the homecoming reception.

He rode beneath the colors.

Within five minutes his white hearse passed on its way to Curlew Hills Memory Gardens.

Then, at 1:15 p.m. the colors came down.

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More Coverage of Army Spc. Zack Shannon:

• Remember Fallen Dunedin Soldier Spc. Zack Shannon