Bill To Name Post Office After Fallen Navy Hero

PINE PLAINS, NY — Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-Rhinebeck, introduced bipartisan legislation in the House of Representatives to rename a Pine Plains post office after Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon M. Kent, who was one of four Americans killed in January by a suicide bombing in Syria during her fifth combat tour in the Middle East. Delgado’s bill would change the name of the post office at 7722 South Main Street in Pine Plains to the "Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon M. Kent Post Office."

The post office is located in Senior Chief Kent’s hometown.

“There is no higher calling than to serve one’s country, and Senior Chief Kent answered that call with unparalleled devotion. I offer my deepest and most sincere condolences to her family as our community continues to mourn her passing,” Delgado said.

“Honoring Senior Chief Kent in this permanent way will serve as a daily reminder of her heroism and sacrifice,” he said.

Kent, a wife and mother of two children who was 35 at the time of her death, was an “example to all of us,” Delgado said. He honored her on the fFloor of the House of Representatives and spearheaded efforts in Congress to change the Department of Defense regulation that forced Senior Chief Kent to deploy to Syria rather than continue academic study, according to a spokesperson.

Kent survived thyroid cancer in 2016 and in 2018 was selected to participate in a special officer program to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. She was later disqualified, having not met the required medical standards established under a DOD rule, from seeking the commission as an officer in the armed forces.

She appealed, was denied a waiver and in November 2018 deployed to Syria.

Senior Chief Kent was the recipient of the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, two Joint Service Commendation Medals, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Joint Service Achievement Medal.

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