Thomas Shannon was born on 7 September 1895. He was the son of Thomas Joseph Shannon and Mary Elizabeth Nugent. The couple had six children: John, Julia, Thomas, Charles, Walter, and Joseph. In 1990, the family moved to 96th Street in Brooklyn, where Tom grew up. From 1909, he worked in the advertising department of the Brooklyn Standard Union Newspaper, where he was known for the enthusiasm with which he carried out any tasks assigned to him. Tough jobs were usually entrusted to him. On 20 April 1914, he enlisted in the Twenty-third Infantry Regiment, the local regiment of the National Guard, with which he was on active service for three years along the Mexican border at the time of the clashes with Pancho Villa. On 23 July 1916, he became a corporal and on 31 October 1916, he became a sergeant. Tom was struck by a bullet in the stomach on 1 September. He lived for another six hours, in great pain.  In 1930, at the age of 66, his mother came to the Flanders Field American Cemetery to visit his grave.
This information is taken from All Continents Present in 1917, published by the Visit Flanders Office, page 17.  Courtesy of Patrick Shannon.