Their Story
Remembering Stanford Ford H. Shaw III.
Capt. Shaw was lost on March 10, 2015, along with six other Marines and four Louisiana Army National Guard Members in a helicopter crash off the coast of Florida. He was assigned to 2nd Special Operations Battalion, Marine Corps Special Operations Command, Camp Lejune, North Carolina.
Capt. Shaw was born in Basking Ridge, NJ, and attended Ridge High School where he was Captain of his varsity lacrosse team and the student government president. After graduating in 2002 he attended the United States Naval Academy.
While at the United States Naval Academy he played club lacrosse and was the 6th Company Commander. He completed his degree in Political Science with a Bachelor of Science and upon graduating in 2006 he accepted a commission as a Marine officer, selecting Infantry from The Basic School (TBS).
In August 2007, he deployed to Al Anbar Province, Iraq, where he supported Operation Iraqi Freedom and deployed again to Iraq in 2009. In July 2010, Capt. Shaw was assigned to 4th Marines, 3D Marine Division and soon took command of Headquarters Company, August 2010. The company deployed to Camp Fuji, Japan, for training in October 2010 and again in February 2011, to Thailand in support of Exercise Cobra Gold.
In May 2011, he was reassigned to the Jungle Warfare Training Center on Camp Gonsalves, Okinawa.
In May 2011, Capt. Shaw assumed duties and responsibilities as the Operations Officer and Deputy Camp Commander for the Jungle Warfare Training Center. He subsequently attended and graduated from the Malaysian Army Jungle Warfare Operations Course in PULADA, Malaysia. After completing his tour at JWTC, he was reassigned to the Individual Training Course, Marine Special Operations School.
From May 2012 to March 2013 Captain Shaw was a student at ITC and the MARSOC Team Commander’s Course. Upon completion of both schools he was assigned to 2D Marine Special Operations Battalion where he served as a team commander. In 2014, he deployed to Afghanistan with the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion.
Captain Shaw was awarded a Bronze Star posthumously.
