Acting Township Manager's Son Returns from Afghanistan

While the presence of Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno was the talk of the town–particularly the Republican Party—Wednesday night, Acting Galloway Township Manager Steve Bonanni was nowhere to be found.

In fact, he was nowhere to be found in the state.

Bonanni was in Baltimore, welcoming his son home from his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Stephen Bonanni Jr. was returning following a five-month stint as a medic in Afghanistan. It was his second tour of duty in that country, and he has also served in Iraq.

The previous trip to Afghanistan and the one to Iraq lasted between eight and 10 months, Stephen Bonanni Sr. said Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s unnerving,” Stephen Bonanni Sr. said. “You’re constantly thinking about what’s going on over there. You think, ‘What would I do?’ if military people ever came to your front door.”

In a country where most of the population doesn’t give even a first thought to the events in the now 10-year-old war in Afghanistan, thoughts of the conflict are on the minds of Bonanni Sr. and his wife, Lynette, as well as Stephen Bonanni Jr.’s wife and 4-year-old son, on a daily basis, at least for the last seven years.

Stephen Bonanni Jr. has been in the army for seven years. When he was younger, he was a Civil War re-enactor. When he graduated from Absegami High School, he wanted to join the military, but his parents convinced him to enroll in college first.

“He’s always had a fondness for the military and for history,” Bonanni said.

He graduated from Eastern University with a bachelor’s degree in history and a steady determination to go into the Army. At that point, the parents could no longer stand in the way of the son’s dreams.

Stephen Bonanni Jr. graduated ninth in his class of 450 from Absegami High School, and he was a habitual fixture on the Dean’s List at Eastern University.

He will be attending a physician’s assistance school in San Antonio, Texas, and his parents are hoping he will stay in the country this time.

Now 30 years old, Stephen Bonanni Jr. resides in Louisiana with his wife and son. While he is overseas, he is able to communicate with his parents once every two weeks, and a little more than that with his wife, although Bonanni Sr. wasn’t sure how often those communications take place.

Stephen Bonanni Jr. arrived in Baltimore around 9 Wednesday night. His parents were on hand to greet him, but his wife and son were unable to greet him as he exited the plane with the other warriors returning home to see their families.

“My dad was in World War II,” Bonanni said. “He was a master sergeant, and now my son is a staff sergeant. I’m so proud of what he does for this great country.”