By Alexander Rivero

It is a good thing to know that people like Ret. Maj. Anthony F. DeStefano exist in the world, and that some of them do so a mere stone’s throw away from where we live. Indeed, the Hackettstown resident’s military record alone is impressive enough, but one might argue that what he has accomplished in the years since his retirement from the Army in 2006 is worth not only applauding but perhaps following. 

In 1982, after falling out of love with the rock band in which he was playing in his native Everett, Massachusetts, DeStefano sat down to watch An Officer and a Gentleman starring Richard Gere as a young Naval officer. Something clicked within. Moved by the film, he enlisted in the Massachusetts Army National Guard that year and completed his Basic Training at Fort Dix. For the next eight years he served in the Massachusetts Army National Guard, and completed Officer Candidate School (OCS) ranked seventh out of the 51 applicants that remained from the original 151. Leaving OCS with the rank of Second Lieutenant, DeStefano was ready for what would come next, which for him was another eight-year stint in the Army National Guard, this time in South Carolina, and then a final eight-year assignment in the Army Reserve out of Atlanta for a total of 24 years of military service that saw him rise to the rank of major. 

By his account, DeStefano also visited “many interesting places.” Most notable were the ancient cities of Cairo and Alexandria which he explored in his free time as a participant in Operation Bright Star—a biannually held series of combined and joint training exercises led by US and Egyptian forces in Egypt. “I went to Bright Star three times,” recalls DeStefano, “twice with the 228th Signal Brigade while I was in South Carolina, and once with the 335th Theater Signal Command.” While in Egypt, DeStefano was able to see the Great Pyramids, feast on fresh prawns in Alexandria, and get to know the Egyptian people. He was “blown away”, he recalls, “by the way in which the Egyptians loved their children, the way they spoke to them, the gentleness with which they treated them. There was nothing but love pouring out of those parents for their kids.”      

It was while working as a reservist with the 335th Theater Signal Command, which oversaw all of southwest Asia, including Iraq and Afghanistan, that DeStefano was placed on active duty just after the September 11 attacks. Thus began his 22-month-long deployment to Kuwait, an experience on which he kept detailed, daily notes.  As communications specialist, DeStefano helped set up telemedicine circuits to link information between Army Medical Centers in Washington, DC and Germany to medical practitioners at facilities in Iraq and Kuwait. He was surprised at the Kuwaiti hesitancy to upgrade the technology in their hospitals, preferring to write everything down by hand, keep physical files, and communicate only by telephone. “They never understood why Americans needed computers in hospitals. But we gradually overcame their objections. It wasn’t easy. All their comms lines were cemented into the walls because they never thought to expand technologically. So we had to use a line splitter system to install computers.”

Despite his success during his deployment, DeStefano did not return home completely unscathed. To this day, he goes through Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after the missile attacks on his headquarters during Operation Iraqi Freedom. “We were under near constant Theater Ballistic Missile attack and went to MOPP4, which is the call to wear the most protective of all kinds of protective gear to guard against biological, audiological, chemical, or nuclear strikes, on approximately 80 different occasions. On one of these occasions, we came within a few seconds of immolation had it not been for our Patriot missile systems.” 

Today, DeStefano is an active member of various charitable groups working to help veterans in need to get off the street, most notably the American Legion Blue Ridge Post 164, the Knights of Columbus (Long Valley), and the Elks. Within his capacity in each organization, he strives to build as much awareness as possible of the issues facing many veterans today, most notably the fact that most homeless veterans find themselves homeless because of TBI (traumatic brain injury) or PTSD. Under his guidance, he is working with the Elks and local police departments in furthering Elks-operated Operation Chillout, which distributes backpacks loaded with essentials to veterans in need. This initiative relies exclusively on private donations, can be reached at www.operationchillout.org, and includes a rapid response phone service at 609-619-0861 for veterans who need the help.