Vaughan was ‘quiet but strong’

EAGLE COUNTY — As a youngster at the Eagle County Charter Academy, Lt. John Shaw Vaughan was passionate about two things — hunting and flying, said Vaughan’s former science teacher Jay Cerny, who is now the principal of the school.

“He got his pilots license the very first day he could,” Cerny said.

Cerny remembered Vaughan’s middle school science project — he wanted to see what type of ammunition was more consistent, the store-bought stuff or Vaughan’s own hand-packed ammunition.

“I remember telling him, ‘Are you sure you want to do something with artillery, man?’ There were all these things we had to do because he was a minor and we were dealing with firearms, but he said, ‘Yup, I want to do it,’” Cerny said. “He did a lot of work.”

Out of 150 kids at the charter school science fair, Vaughan earned third place, a blue ribbon at the district level fair and went on to the regional fair where his project earned a lot of attention.

Glimpse into a future career

Military personnel were especially fascinated by Vaughan’s project.

“Boy, the military, they were just really impressed,” Cerny said. “A kid who can make his own amo loads at that age, that’s pretty impressive. It was very, very well received.”

Vaughan might have been equally impressed with the military because he enrolled in ROTC when he went to college and was eventually deployed to Iraq. On Wednesday, Vaughan was killed in Mosul after his platoon was attacked and he was hit by small arms fire.

“God, what a tragedy,” Cerny said. “When you lose a great kid, that just stinks. He was shy, but I feel like he opened up to me. He was much more mature than your average kid. He understood my dry wit humor better than the other kids, and for that reason, I had a stronger bond, a stronger relationship with him.”

Going places

Vail Valley native Pat Nottingham had known Vaughan since they were tykes in Cub Scouts together, along with Nottingham’s twin brother, David.

“We were youngsters just running around having a good time,” Nottingham said. “Our families did trips together to Telluride. He was a quiet guy, very, very smart.”

As the boys got older, they’d spend their days tromping through the woods hunting birds. And even after they went their separate ways in college, Vaughan would stop by Nottingham’s home during school breaks to catch up.

“He’d stop by my folks’ house, whether we were there or not, just to visit with our folks,” he said. “Mom and Dad thought he was awesome, so did I. We’d laugh about girlfriends, swap stories — you know, normal guy stuff.”

Although Vaughan was quiet, he had a lot of drive, Nottingham said.

“He was definitely going places,” he said.

After leaving the Vail Valley, the first place Vaughan went was Emery-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida where he studied business administration and enrolled in the ROTC program.

A quiet leader

To Jason Turner, Vaughan was more than a college roommate or even a best friend — he was Turner’s mentor.

“I’m one year behind him in school, and I always performed at an optimum level because of everything he taught me,” he said. “Everybody looked up to him. He was an infantry officer through and through.”

Going to school in Florida, the two friends spent happy times cruising on the beach in Vaughan’s Jeep, but Turner’s fondest memories are of their trips back to Vail where they’d ski and hang out.

“You could tell he was always thinking. He was always thinking, thinking about being the best he could be,” Turner said. “He was quiet, but he was strong.”

Self sacrifice for his country

As a fellow military man, Turner said he understands Vaughan’s sacrifice.

“It’s difficult, but he was doing his job,” Turner said.

Veterans, perhaps, understand this best of all.

“When one of us goes down, whether it’s in combat or not, it’s personal, even if you don’t know the kid,” said Dan Smith, an Avon resident who served in the Army in Vietnam. “You feel for the person who’s down and the wives and the children, the mothers, and daughters.”0

Local veterans are raising funds to build a memorial park alongside Freedom Pond in Edwards for fallen members of the military. One of the organizers, Pat Hammon, who served as a nurse in Vietnam, said Vaughan’s name will be on the memorial.

“One of the inscriptions that goes on the memorial is “This is the cost of freedom,’” Smith said. “Everybody has an opinion on the war, good, bad, whatever. But those opinions cease to have values when there’s a loss. An whether it’s a good war or a bad war doesn’t matter for the duration of that family’s grieving.”

Along with Vaughan’s family, his friends, classmates and teachers are grieving too, trying to keep his life’s work in perspective.

“We had a pretty special relationship,” Turner said. “I’m really going to miss him. He was an individual who understood what it took to be a true friend, a true leader, a true American citizen.”

Vail Daily reporter Nikki Katz contributed to this report. Staff Writer Nicole Frey can be reached at 748-2927 or nfrey@vaildaily.com.

Vail, Colorado