A Life of Service

Purple Heart recipient Shannon Matthews speaks to the Junior ROTC at Nathan Hale High School in Tulsa, where he graduated.

For Shannon Matthews, being able to give back to his country and community is one of his greatest accomplishments. From a long career of military service to establishing a scholarship for veterans, Matthews has impacted countless lives.

Matthews’ career began in the Oklahoma Army National Guard in Sapulpa. He served in the Gulf War and received a Purple Heart in 1994 during Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti.

“I was one of twelve or thirteen people who got Purple Hearts. That’s out of twenty-thousand people who were deployed in the region at the time. I was lucky,” he says with a laugh.

After leaving the Army, Matthews decided to pursue a career in business. He used his G.I. Bill funds to enroll at Tulsa Community College. He finished there in 1997, and then graduated with his bachelor’s in business from Oklahoma State University Tulsa in 2001. But he noticed there weren’t many scholarships for older veterans like himself.

“When I was in, we had the Montgomery G.I. Bill, where you had to pay $1,000 per month for your first twelve months of your enlistment,” he says. “Once you got out or retired, you had ten years to use it or you lost it. After 9/11, everything changed. Now you don’t have to pay in anything, and they can transfer it to a spouse or dependent. And as of 2017, President Trump signed a forever G.I. Bill, which basically means they basically have as long as they live to use it.”

After graduate school, Matthews worked in the civilian world for a time as a veterans’ benefits counselor, but he eventually returned to the military. After twenty-four years of service, he retired from the Army Corps of Engineers in 2012.

By that year, Matthews had relocated to Minnesota, but he never forgot his home state. In fact, two years earlier, he created the $1,000 Shannon L. Matthews Veterans Scholarship at his old alma mater TCC.

“I chose TCC because there, the money would go farther,” he says. “Also, it might encourage an older vet who may have started the process, but they just need an opportunity to go back and take a class or get a certification.”

The scholarship requirements are pretty simple: Applicants need to have been honorably discharged before September 11, 2001, have completed at least fifteen hours of coursework so far, and have a GPA of at least 2.75.

Matthews hopes this scholarship and his example prove that not all veterans are suffering from things like PTSD, drug or alcohol addiction, or homelessness as the perception often seems to be. Thanks to hard work and a solid network of mentors, Matthews demonstrates that you can have a successful post-military career—and even give something back.

The applications for the Shannon L. Matthews Veterans Scholarship have closed for the semester, but you can find the listing at tulsacc.academicworks.com/opportunities/875. Check out tulsacc.academicworks.com for current financial aid opportunities at TCC.

Written By

Karlie Ybarra

Managing editor Karlie Ybarra loves to explore her home state—and meet many of its animal citizens—any chance she gets.