June 30, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A
Couple finds fulfillment as firefighters
Firefighters from Page 1A
CANNON BEACH FIRE AND RESCUE/SUBMITTED PHOTO
Police and firefighters respond to an accident Thursday,
June 22, near Arch Cape.
Injuries in multiple
vehicle crash
On Thursday, June 22,
around 9:30 p.m., Cannon
Beach Fire and Rescue re-
sponded to a report of a
multiple vehicle accident
in the Arch Cape area on
Highway 101. Responding
was Chief Matt Benedict,
Lt. Steve Moon, S.O. Jo-
anne Creamer, firefight-
ers Shaunna White, Josiah
Norris and Keaton Walde,
along with Cannon Beach
Police Department, Oregon
State Police and Medix.
Two people with minor in-
juries were transported to a
local hospital.
FILE PHOTO
Join the parade in Cannon Beach.
Celebrate the Fourth
in Cannon Beach
American Legion Post
168 sponsors the Cannon
Beach Independence Day
parade. Registration starts at
9 a.m. at 1216 S. Hemlock;
the parade starts at 11 a.m.
The parade heads north on
Spruce Street from the stag-
ing area between Gower and
Monroe streets and features
kids, bikes, old cars and
decorated entries. The Le-
gion post will be open after
the parade for hot dogs. For
more information. contact
Dan O’Reilly at 503-436-
8689 or Nancy Teagle at
503-436-0424.
she was 14, who at the time
was a volunteer firefighter and
her sister’s best friend.
To help move the relation-
ship, her sister suggested she
ask TJ to help her fix the radio
in the car she just purchased
at 16. One thing led to anoth-
er, and suddenly she found
herself loving another first
responder.
Unique challenges
While it’s not uncommon
for couples to be in the same
business, some things get
more complicated when the
business is saving lives.
“It’s one thing when you’re
risking your own life,” TJ
said. “But it’s different when
it involves people you love.
Potentially sending my wife
into a structure fire is a little
bit of a tall order, but it’s a job
that has to be done.”
That personal connection
is a benefit, too, TJ said. The
two have an immense trust
and respect for the other’s
abilities and judgments. They
rarely have to communicate
because both know what
needs to be done and how.
“When we get done with a
call, we both experienced all
the same stuff,” TJ said. “Be-
cause of privacy issues, we
can’t talk about our work with
people who weren’t there. But
since we both were there, we
can help each other process.
You see some terrible things
sometimes.”
It’s a lifestyle and under-
standing the two developed
while serving in the Marine
Corps. Both entered the mil-
itary in 2009 — TJ after vol-
unteering with Cannon Beach
Fire and Rescue for seven
years and Shaunna right out
of high school.
TJ was inspired by his fa-
ther, who served as a police
officer in Cannon Beach.
Serving his country was a
way to help replicate the safe,
simple childhood he got to
experience in Cannon Beach,
TJ said.
COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP
Cannon Beach volunteer firefighter Shaunna White, right
holding onto car door, participates in a training exercise
last week.
When the fire department
threw a going-away party for
TJ at the Driftwood, one of
the wives asked him why he
was joining the service. “I
pointed back at my team, and
said, ‘That’s why’ — to make
sure people could continue
to do whatever they want to
do without fear of something
else.”
“Wow,” Shaunna said.
“That’s a beautiful story. I just
didn’t want to go to college.
And I wanted to be a Marine.”
“So basically you were
more scared of college than
going into combat?” TJ asked.
“Yeah, I guess so,”
Shaunna laughed.
Strong, unstoppable
For Shaunna, it was her
grandfather — a veteran of
both the Korean and Vietnam
wars — that inspired her to en-
list. Being a Marine meant be-
ing strong, being unstoppable.
It meant success.
“So when I finally got in, I
remember asking, ‘Can I be a
tanker?’ and they said that was
for only men. I asked to be a
grunt, and again, only men,”
Shaunna said. “I could be a
cook or a tactical switchboard
operator, so I chose the last
one.”
The two separated for 11
months for training before TJ
managed to transfer near Camp
Pendleton in California, where
Shaunna was stationed. A year-
and-a-half in, they were mar-
ried, which allowed them to
stay together throughout their
tours.
“It put a tremendous stress
on our relationship,” TJ said.
“It’s a lifestyle that’s hard to
understand if you’re not in it.”
After living in a world
where 4 a.m. runs and six-hour
packing trips in the beating
sun are status quo, both TJ
and Shaunna found something
missing in their lives when re-
turning to the civilian world.
“The Marine Corps made
me feel unstoppable. It made
me who I am today, instead of
college. I had this overall im-
portant mission. Only 6 per-
cent of Marines are female,”
Shaunna said. “So when I got
out, I felt like I was nothing,
insignificant. It made me de-
pressed.”
That’s when TJ convinced
her to try firefighting with him,
to help recreate the structure
and team atmosphere of the
military.
“It doesn’t necessarily make
the transition easier, but it will
help you give a direction to feel
like you are doing something,
instead of hanging up your
uniform and remembering the
good old days. That’s hard.”
in veterans who serve as vol-
unteer firefighters is an innate
sense of responsibility, work
ethic and respect.
“They understand struc-
ture, and that is critical. They
will fall back on their military
background in a major inci-
dent,” Benedict said.
For the past year, Bene-
dict has seen veterans, such
as Shaunna and TJ, transition
and grow more comfortable
with the job.
“It’s important to keep
their minds busy, and we give
them an opportunity to do
that,” Benedict said.
Shaunna is pursuing her
fire-science degree at Clatsop
Community College with the
hopes of making firefighting
her career. TJ is pursuing a
degree is psychology at Or-
egon State University while
working as a phlebotomist at
Providence Seaside Hospital
in the hopes of becoming a
physician’s assistant in emer-
gency medicine.
What type of first re-
sponder work and where are
to be determined for TJ and
Shaunna’s future, but no mat-
ter what, they are committed
to keeping Cannon Beach
safe.
“When I left the mili-
tary, I missed the challenge,”
Shaunna said. “It took me
awhile to get here, but I fell
in love.”
Into the future
One of the largest benefits
Fire Chief Matt Benedict sees
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