Dad: Fallen medic sacrificed for others

CEDAR SPRINGS, Mich. (WOOD) - "Some will say I've sacrificed my son. I didn't sacrifice my son. He sacrificed himself, and he did it for every one of you."

Patrick Shanafelt and his family are very private people, but he said he felt the need to speak out about the death of his son, Army Specialist Zachary Shanafelt, from injuries he sustained as a combat medic in 2011 in Afghanistan.

"Some will say I've sacrificed my son," said Shanafelt, "I didn't sacrifice my son. He sacrificed himself, and he did it for everyone of you."

Spc. Shanafelt, 24, died last week at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC.

"If you're looking for grief or sorrow here, you're not going to find it because that belong to us as a family," Patrick Shanafelt told 24 Hour News 8 from his home near Cedar Springs. "That's not something we're going to share with you."

His father won't discuss the circumstances of how Spc. Shanafelt was injured. "I will not talk about how my son died. If you want to ask me about how my son lived, I'd be more than happy to share that with you."

Zachary, he said, was a dreamer. He was kind and funny, a man who loved everyone for who they were. He was especially dedicated to the children of Afghanistan, asking his parents for small toys to hand out to kids in care packages from home.

"A father couldn't have asked for a better son. He really couldn't have."

Patrick Shanafelt said his son didn't like the idea of war. He thought people could work out their differences, but he knew the reality -- and he knew he could help.

He signed up to be a combat medic.

"He knew that there was something he could do to help, not only his fellow soldiers but also the people of the communities he was in," said Shanafelt.

"Zachary felt in his heart the rightness of what he was doing. He knew the need for men like him in places like this. If we don't take care of our own, if we don't have men like him who are willing to stand up and go to these places and take care of their own, who is going to do it?"

The Army specialist was the married father of a 13-month-old named Daniel. Patrick Shanafelt said he'll make sure his grandson knows what his father stood for.

"The legacy of his dad through his friends, through his uncles, through myself and through his mother will be something that will live on and that he will know and will have to cherish forever."

Patrick Shanafelt said his familiy is grateful for the support from Grand Rapids, where his son graduated from Creston Hogh School, to Rockford, where his family now live.

"I'd like to say thank you to our family and friends," said Shanafelt. "I'd like to say thank you to the community as a whole for your outpouring of support and sympathy."

As far as symbols for sympathy and support go, David Ruehs, the owner of Rockford Flower Shop, has helped put together many.

"Flowers soften what's going on." said Ruehs.

The Rockford Flower Shop owner has already taken orders for Spc. Shanafelt's Friday funeral.

"It makes the family feel better knowing people care enough to do something," said Ruehs. "It's that type of community, everybody knows one another. Whatever anybody can do, that's what we should do."

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Spc. Shanafelt's body will arrive at Gerald R. Ford International Airport at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.  The patriot guard will escort the body to Rockford, taking U.S. 131 north to 10 Mile Road into Rockford. Residents are asked to line 10 Mile Road to honor Shanafelt.

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Visitation will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m to 11a.m. Friday. The service will begin at 11 a.m.

The funeral services will include full military honors and are being handled through Pederson Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project or the memorial fund established for Shanafelts’s son at any Fifth Third Bank branch.

Wounded Warrior Project
PO Box 758517
Topeka , KS 66675
woundedwarriorproject.org

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24 Hour News 8's Ryan Takeo contributed to this story.