life in 2002. his mother shirley comes here to visit and his sister brenda too when she s in town. oh, how they worried that war might put him here. except war didn t. there never was a thought back then about what could happen far from combat. what did happen? all those strange things down south in north carolina. fayetteville is an old town, steeped in revolutionary and civil war history, smack in the middle of the bible belt. but now, cargo planes buzz in and out of pope air force base. and off past the confines of the city sprawls ft. brag, home base of the computer whiz the special ops major, david shannon, his house was here just a few blocks off base. the major, his wife joan and their four children.