Tim McKenna Jr. Recognized for Service in Afghanistan

Tim McKenna Jr. is rightfully viewed as a hero among his friends, family and citizens of Galloway Township.

That doesn’t mean he isn’t frequently scared.

“You’d have to be crazy not to be,” he said following the Galloway Township Council meeting on Tuesday night, April 9. “But you just have to stay focused on the job and on getting home.”

McKenna, the son of Galloway Township Fire Chief Tim McKenna, has good reason to feel the way he does. He’s spent most of his post-high school life fighting in Afghanistan, specifically Kandahar City.

“I wanted to get out and make something of myself,” the 19-year-old soldier said after being recognized with a presentation by Mayor Don Purdy declaring April 9 Tim McKenna Jr. Day during Tuesday’s meeting.

McKenna grew up in Galloway. He attended Smithville Elementary School, the middle school and Absegami High School, graduating in 2011. He enrolled in basic training in February of last year, and graduated on June 14, 2012.

He was deployed to Afghanistan on Aug. 27, 2012. He returned home on Jan. 24 of this year.

He serves in a reconnaissance role.

“I go out and find out what the bad guys are doing,” McKenna said. “I let our base know what’s going on and how they’re doing.”

He doesn’t see a lot of combat, but he’s served alongside locals who have been put directly in the line of fire, including Bob Wolff and Joe Mille. McKenna's sergeant is from Vineland, in Cumberland County.

During his speech, which can be seen as a video attached to the story, McKenna reminds Galloway residents to keep those heroes in mind.

“What a humble guy. That exemplifies the selflessness of our military and represents our guys so well,” Deputy Mayor Tony Coppola said, adding that he would like to see McKenna join the Township’s Veterans’ Advisory Board.

Every member of council thanked McKenna for his service during their public comment portion of the meeting.

McKenna’s family thanked the middle school and Four Seasons for their various donations.

The United States has been at war with Afghanistan since Oct. 7, 2001, less than a month after al-Qaeda’s attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

A team of Navy Seals, commonly known as Seal Team Six, raided al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s outpost in Pakistan on May 2, 2011. Bin Laden was killed in the subsequent attack. Two years later, servicemen and women in the armed forces continue to battle terrorist elements in Afghanistan, and casualties continue to pile up.

McKenna wasn’t able to say how much improvement there has been, since he wasn’t in the country very long.

“I didn’t know what to expect going in,” McKenna said.

That said, McKenna doesn’t expect to return to Afghanistan when he is redeployed on Saturday, April 13.

He believes the United States will be able to withdraw its forces from that country by the end of the year, the goal previously set by President Barack Obama and the military.

“I’ve seen what the Afghan forces can do and what they’re capable of,” McKenna said. “They just need a little more discipline and they need to be a little sharper.

“But you never know. Things can change.”