Brick Veteran Honored with Give Thanks Dinner After 2011 IED Attack

For five years now Joanne Brennan and the Brennan Stands Alone Foundation have held a Give Thanks Dinner where they not only remember the events that nearly took the life of her son Capt. Brian Brennan but also honor other wounded service members.

Brennan, who lost both of his legs and suffered other traumatic injuries in an improvised explosive device attack in 2008 returned to active duty and on Saturday night his mother paid tribute to one of the people who helped treat him immediately after his injuries. “Captain (Robert) Charles is my hero,” she said of one of the honorees. “He gave me back my boy. I’m forever in his debt.

During the dinner a detailed description of Brennan’s story was read as told by one of the flight surgeons who treated him. It was an emotional experience at the Southard Firehouse as Brennan and others in attendance heard how the original report was for five critical injuries and how by the time the helicopters arrived that number was reduced to two with three killed in action.

From the time he arrived at the field hospital a large number of doctors and nurses worked to treat Brennan’s injuries with no assurances he would survive even after the operations. Capt. Charles spent 30 hours by his bedside before he was transported to Germany for more treatment before finally arriving at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD.

Charles said in 2008, the year Brennan was wounded, the hospital saw close to 700 trauma patients but he knew he had to stay with the soldier during his time there. “We didn’t think he was going to make it,” he said. “We had already lost three in that same IED. We thought we had five and ended up with two. Everyone was committed that we’re not losing two more. Everyone gave 1000 percent.”

Having enlisted two years before, at an age when most soldiers are well past their service age, Capt. Charles said it was important for him to do his part for his country. “My son was in the Marines,” he said. “I told my wife I have a skill set, the army can use me. If I can bring somebody’s baby home and help to do that I want to do it. You’d want me next to Sean if he was there and she said okay.

The injuries Brennan and other soldiers suffered were clear as they were physical but for Charles and others, theirs were less obvious. Following years in a combat zone Charles was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which had made for serious problems for him and his family.Part of his symptoms included severe nightmares. ‘I didn’t have any problems meeting the standards of the Army,” he said. “The problem I had was I couldn’t save everybody.”

Even as he dealt with his own demons from service Capt. Charles said he “wouldn’t give myself permission to have a problem.” Having not served in infantry he would not acknowledge that he needed help. “I got a lot of help from some other warriors who had PTSD who were snipers and soldiers who said ‘Oh no, you’re in the club.’”

The second honoree was Brick native Cpl. Rory Hamill. Having been born in Walter Reed, Hamill returned to the hospital after also being injured in an IED attack. In February of 2011 Hamill and his unit got reports of an IED in a nearby compound and went to clear the situation. While on patrol he stepped on a low metallic pressure plate which detonated 20 pounds of explosives and sent him 10 feet in the air.

As a result of the blast Hamill immediately lost his right leg at the knee but was able to treat his own injuries until more help arrived. He received more immediate treatment on the Medivac helicopter when his vital signs crashed and endured 11 more surgeries as part of his treatment. Following the blast Hamill said there was only one thing on his mind. “My kids. I thought immediately of my kids and that I did not want to die. I wanted to go home and see them.” Hamill accepted a check from the check from a foundation with his wife and children standing by his side. 

With everything he endured Hamill said the support he has received at home has been “overwhelming.” Brennan and Hamill grew up just a few miles apart and Hamill said it is all part of a special bond they now share. “It’s nice knowing that people growing up where I grew up went through the same things I went through.”

As for Brennan, the night was a continued show of support from a community that lined the roadways from the time he returned to helping build an addition onto the family’s house to the creation of the foundation. “It means the world to me,” he said of the support. “I haven’t been around this community in a while with college and the military so for them to come behind me and provide for me, it was a fabulous thing.”