New Hampshire Sergeant Named USO Volunteer of the Year
DONOVAN
New Hampshire Union Leader
Daisy Hsiang-Ching Tseng
Boston University Washington News Service
Oct. 7, 2009
WASHINGTON – When Army Sgt. Timothy Donovan, who grew up in Sandown, N.H., heard he would be named the volunteer of the year by United Service Organizations (USO), he said he felt excited and happy. But his mother, Lynne Mecka, was even more thrilled.
“This is the biggest thing that’s ever happened in our town,” Mecka said at the 2009 USO Gala, held at a Washington hotel Wednesday night.
The USO, a nonprofit association that provides support and recreational opportunities to U.S. military service members around the world, also honored one service member from each of the five services for their bravery.
Donovan, 26, loves people, has a lot of friends, and is easy going, his mother said.
“He’ll do anything for anybody,” said Danny Shields of Raymond, who grew up with Donovan and is his best friend. “He has a big heart. He loves helping people.”
It is because of his big heart, Donovan has devoted his free time to volunteering at the USO center in Vicenza, Italy, since July 2008. He is a full-time active duty soldier with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, but finds time to volunteer at the the USO during lunch and after work.
He initiated the Football Night for the soldiers, leaving the center open till 1 a.m. when the games are on and closing the center after everyone leaves. Because some soldiers don’t have televisions in their rooms, Donovan said he thought it would be great if they could watch football at the center.
Even though Mecka is proud of her son, she tried to talk him out of joining the Army in 2004. For Donovan, on the other hand, joining the Army was “something out of the blue.”
“I like the Army life,” Donovan said, “but there’s always pros and cons about it.”
Family life is hard, Donovan said. Having a girlfriend and a close relationship with his family and friends, Donovan tries to come home at least once a year, and talk to them on the phone as often as he can.
Donovan, who flew back to Italy Thursday, will be preparing for his third deployment in Afghanistan, starting in December and lasting for one year. Facing the dangerous deployment, Donovan said, “There’s no point in being nervous. It doesn’t do anything.”
“He never gets nervous,” Mecka said. “He’s always been like that. He’s always just had the attitude, why waste energy being nervous?”
The calmness comes from being used to the job, Donovan said. This tall thin sergeant who shines his boots with cotton balls said joking about the deployment usually calms people down.
“Like, I hope I don’t blow up today or something,” Donovan said. “I don’t have much fear at all. If it happened, it happens.”
The challenge, Donovan said, is to train and motivate his soldiers, and bring them back safely.
In his spare time in Italy, Donvan likes to travel around Europe, he said, especially with his girlfriend when she visits. He doesn’t drink coffee, only juice and water, and he recently quit eating junk food, he said.
Family remains important to Donovan, and he said he plans to come back to New Hampshire when he gets out of the Army in 2012. Being a police officer or an emergency medical technician are possibilities he said he is considering.
In the mean time, Donovan concentrates on the job that he and his family are proud of, defending the nation from harm.
“He’s doing the great things for the country,” Shields said.
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