Russellville native Shawn Sattazahn is not only a unique young man, but now he is officially a parachutist. That comes as no surprise, even though he was born with quadriplegic cerebral palsy.
Despite those physical challenges, Shawn is a member of Western Kentucky University’s Military Science program and ROTC.
On Nov. 13, he parachuted from an aircraft at 14,000 feet in Tullahoma, Tenn. The next day, Lt. Col. Thomas MacMillin of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment pinned silver parachutist wings on the freshman’s uniform.
Then recently when the Military Science program presented several awards at Gary Ransdell Hall, the final one went to Shawn Sattazahn. He received the Jump Master Award.
Shawn comes from a family with deep military roots. His father, Roy Sattazahn, who died in the early part of this year, was an Army veteran. Family members have been stationed with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell and the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Italy.
Shawn is also the son of Theresa Sattzahn of Russellville.
All fall, Shawn has been displaying ROTC pictures on his Facebook page, and every one of them demonstrates how happy he is to be in uniform and how much his comrades think of him.
“There’s never a moment when he’s not smiling,” Michael Bryar, a Louisville junior and MS Level 3 in the program, told reporter Aaron Mudd, whose story about Shawn appeared Tuesday in the Bowling Green Daily News.
To read the story and see more pictures by Austin Anthony, go to http://www.bgdailynews.com/news/wku-rotc-cadet-reaches-new-heights/article_a46e57b0-63cb-5d7a-9bfd-26f1c5661756.html.