Jeffrey A. H. Poole

When Old Dominion opens its season Saturday night against Norfolk State, not one player will have his own name on his jersey. Every single one will read LTC SHAH. Lieutenant Colonel Brandon A. Shah was 42 years old. He grew up in Staunton, Virginia, enlisted in the Army in 2003 as an aviation operations specialist, then enrolled at Old Dominion and commissioned as an officer in 2007 with a degree in sociology. He flew AH-64 Apache helicopters. More than 1,200 flight hours across three aircraft, over 600 of them in combat. Iraq. Afghanistan. Eastern Europe. Bronze Star. Air Medal with Valor. Combat Action Badge. Senior Army Aviator Badge. In 2022 he came back to the campus where it started, to run the ROTC program and chair the Military Science Department. On the morning of March 12, a gunman walked into his classroom in Constant Hall. Shah did not take cover. "Brandon did not hesitate or take cover," Army Chaplain Lt. Col. Erik Alfsen said at his memorial. "Instead, he ran forward. He moved toward the threat. He exposed himself to danger, and he closed with the assailant, taking hold of him and bringing him to the ground." That gave his cadets the seconds they needed. They subdued the attacker. The FBI later credited those students with preventing further loss of life. Shah was shot in the struggle and died. Two others were wounded. He left behind his wife Kathrine and his children. "I truly believe Brandon knew exactly what he was doing in those final moments," Kathrine said. "He was protecting people. He was protecting his kids." Alfsen put it another way at the memorial. "There are cadets sitting before you on this field who will hug their families and kiss their loved ones goodnight tonight, because of Brandon's actions." Now here's the part that ties it all together. That memorial was held at S.B. Ballard Stadium. The football stadium. The same field the Monarchs will run onto Saturday night. It included a 21-gun salute and the firing of ODU's cannon. That cannon was Shah's. He took pride in painting it ODU blue, and he spent real effort working to make it as loud as he could get it. One of his colleagues said it plainly that day. "From now on, every time you hear big blue roar across the Elizabeth River, you can thank Lt. Col. Shah." So on Saturday, at 6 PM, in the stadium where they said goodbye to him, ODU will kick off in Under Armour camo with his name on 100 backs, and that cannon will go off after every score. The game-worn uniforms will be sold during the game for $300 each. Every dollar goes to his family. Shah once described what the Army had given him. "I've lived on four continents, been on five. I love flying and being around people who like to work." A kid from Staunton who enlisted at 20, came home to teach, and ran toward the thing everyone else was running from.