June 30, 2011
Sgt. Brendan Deeney has already served two tours in Afghanistan.
Editor’s Note: Dorchester is home to scores of young men and women who have left behind friends and family members to serve the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan. To highlight their stories, the Reporter’s new column, “Over There,” will feature a new Dorchester service member ever week. Readers are invited to send in suggestions for men and women to profile by sending an email to Corey Burns at coburns@rivier.edu.
Sgt. Brendan Deeney of Neponset has served two tours in Afghanistan, recently re-enlisted in the Army, and is currently stationed at Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Brendan said growing up in Dorchester definitely helped him in his deployments.
“Having the street smarts that you get growing up there is a huge advantage,” Sgt. Deeney told the Reporter. “You just know when something isn’t right. It’s something a lot of people don’t have and I think it’s because of where I grew up.”
During both of Brendan’s tours he spent most of his time on the road.
He would run supply routes from bigger bases in the country like Kandahar and Bagram to smaller more secluded FOB’s (forward operating bases.) They would haul loads of food, water, ammo, and mail.
Deeney spent most of his time driving or as the gunner in the turret atop the humvee, an experience he says is “scary and exciting all at the same time.”
His brother, Phil, is extremely proud of his brother.
“It’s an honor for me to have my younger brother in the Army and having deployed to Afghanistan twice already and with tour number three a few months away, I’m extremely proud of him,” Phil Deeney said.
“He is doing what most of us, me included, are not willing to do for our country. He is certainly a better man than me in that regard.”
At the age of 21, Brendan made the decision of joining the Army. There are many reasons people join but he told the Reporter, “I decided to enlist because I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. The neighborhood wasn’t the best place at the time. There was a lot of drugs and trouble everywhere. If I wanted to do something with my life I had to get away from it all.”
After Brendan’s initial contract expired, he made a seemingly difficult decision rather easily, and decided to re-enlist.
Deeney said, “I decided to re-enlist because I honestly love the job. Where else in the world can you drive huge pieces of equipment one day, crawl around in the mud the next, and then shoot weapons and blow things up? I was only planning on serving my initial contract then getting out but the lifestyle is addicting. There’s a lot of things to deal with but it’s a lot of fun too.”
Brendan’s mother, Cathy, said “when he did enlist again, the ‘mother worries’ came to mind, but I knew it was the right decision for him.”
Growing up in Dorchester was not easy for Brendan, spending the first 10 years of his life in St. Margaret’s Parish. It was then he suffered the greatest loss a young boy could experience: the death of his father, Phil.
About a year after that, the family moved to Neponset, Brendan started at a new school, made new friends easily, but would still gravitate back to his old neighborhood with his old friends.
Eventually he found that he had developed many true friendships in Neponset and settled in comfortably there. He quickly became one of the more popular kids from fifth grade all the way through high school.
High school was also not the easiest of times for Brendan. Starting out at Catholic Memorial and bouncing around a few others, Deeney ultimately earned his GED while around the same time becoming a young father.
Cathy told the Reporter, “To be honest, he was going down the wrong road and going in the Army seemed to make the most sense. He needed the discipline he was not getting or the strictness of something to go by and although I was very nervous and afraid, and missed him terribly, in all honesty, I think it was the best move he ever made.
“The Army made him finally grow up and he became a man. I am very proud of the way he has turned his life around,” she said.
“I think Brendan has finally become the man he was supposed to be. His joining the Army & serving two tours of Afghanistan has changed him in so many ways that we may never totally know, but I still believe in my heart he has done and will continue to do the right thing. I believe God has a special plan for Brendan, I am very proud of him and I love him with all my heart.”
His brother added: “The army has turned him into a man and a true leader. As a Sergeant, he is responsible for other soldiers and in a war zone he is responsible for other peoples lives. It’s a tall order but it’s a challenge that I know that he has risen to. I couldn’t be more proud of the man he has become.”
Sgt. Brendan Deeney has received numerous awards during his tenure in the Army. As of now, he has received two Army Achievement medals, two Army Accommodation medals, a Good Conduct award, Afghanistan Service award, the NATO medal, the NCO Development award, and a Combat Action badge.
