Meet Brandon
Now retired from the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, Brandon Shields '03 came up a winner during the Veterans Week celebration on ABC's "Wheel of Fortune."
A retired captain in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves once deployed to Afghanistan, Brandon Drew Shields ’03 is no stranger to poise under pressure. But his winning appearance on ABC’s Wheel of Fortune during Veterans Week was his first time appearing in that situation. Not surprisingly, he was tactical. “My goal was to win the prize puzzle,” Brandon says. “I knew if I won that, there’s a good chance I could go to the bonus round.”
A longtime “Wheel Watcher,” Brandon looks to solve for words before the letters are presented based on category and the number of spaces, a knack he attributes to his English teachers, who instilled a love of the language in him. “When I got to the bonus round, it was pure adrenaline!” he says. “I called my letters, and they all showed up. I knew the puzzle, solved, and then we all celebrated.” Grateful to win, Brandon real thrill was seeing his son interviewed by hosts Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White during the show’s last segment. “That never happens,” he says. “Being on the show was a dream come true.”