thedrifter
01-10-06, 10:47 AM
Police recruit gets his badge of honor
Finishes training after Iraq service
By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff | January 10, 2006
A year ago Patrick Byrne of South Boston was more than halfway through his training at the Boston Police Academy when he was called to active duty in Iraq.
In most cases, a recruit leaving the academy would be forced to restart his or her training. But after Byrne's stellar run as part of the 41st class of 2004, his instructors and colleagues made arrangements to have Byrne pick up his academy training upon his return. In November, after 10 months in Iraq with the Navy Reserves, he did.
Yesterday, with Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole in attendance, Byrne, 24, was sworn in as a Boston police officer. Badge 3104 was pinned on his blue uniform.
The Byrne family was taken aback by the scope of yesterday's ceremony at police headquarters.
As she rounded the doorway into the media briefing room, where row after row of chairs stood, Officer Byrne's mother, Casey Bryne, placed her hand on her chest and gasped, ''This is for Patrick?!"
So unprepared was the family that brother Garrett, 14, and sister Alexis, 8, were left in school. Brother Conor, 21, who serves in the Coast Guard, was present at the ceremony.
A large group of his classmates from the academy also came to the ceremony, some on their day off, all in crisp blue uniforms too new to be adorned with stripes or bars.
Patrolman Bret LaBelle, 32, of Hyde Park, who is working a midnight shift in District 18, said Byrne was ''one of the big motivators for the class" to whom everyone gravitated. ''And all as a young kid," he said. ''He was like 22 when he started. So it was like a blow to the whole class when he got activated."
''Everyone said, 'When you get back, we're going to make this right,' " he added. ''Everyone was behind him 100 percent. He's perfect for the City of Boston."
Byrne served with the Navy Seabees in ground action that he rarely talks about, said his family.
''Whatever happened he just kind of left it there," said Eddie Byrne, his father, who also served in the Navy. ''But nothing that we've seen shows that he's changed."
After yesterday's ceremony, the media pestered the new officer with questions about the dangers of Boston's streets versus the dangers in Iraq.
''You lived through Iraq and now you're back in the city at one of the most dangerous times in a decade. Do you think you can handle it?" asked one reporter.
''It's good to be home. I'm ready to get started," Byrne replied. ''It's been a long year waiting, but I'm ready to get started now."
''Long year," he said of his time in Iraq. Asked again about the dangers he faces on Boston's streets, Byrne replied: ''I'm ready to get started. Already used to it, so I'm ready to go."
Byrne has three more years in the active reserves, making it possible that he could again be called back to Iraq. ''But right now," he said, ''it's all about the police."
''As the mother of three sons who are in the military, two who are serving in Iraq, I can relate to the challenges and the sacrifices that a military family must work to overcome," Deputy Superintendent Gladys Aquino-Gaines, the academy's commander, said in a voice that quivered with emotion as she talked about her family.
Casey Byrne said that her heart skipped a worried beat yesterday when she awoke to news of a double homicide in Allston and the new dangers her son was entering when he starts work on Thursday.
''It does make me a little nervous," she said. ''But at least here in Boston, he's living at home and I know where he is."
Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com.
Ellie
Finishes training after Iraq service
By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff | January 10, 2006
A year ago Patrick Byrne of South Boston was more than halfway through his training at the Boston Police Academy when he was called to active duty in Iraq.
In most cases, a recruit leaving the academy would be forced to restart his or her training. But after Byrne's stellar run as part of the 41st class of 2004, his instructors and colleagues made arrangements to have Byrne pick up his academy training upon his return. In November, after 10 months in Iraq with the Navy Reserves, he did.
Yesterday, with Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole in attendance, Byrne, 24, was sworn in as a Boston police officer. Badge 3104 was pinned on his blue uniform.
The Byrne family was taken aback by the scope of yesterday's ceremony at police headquarters.
As she rounded the doorway into the media briefing room, where row after row of chairs stood, Officer Byrne's mother, Casey Bryne, placed her hand on her chest and gasped, ''This is for Patrick?!"
So unprepared was the family that brother Garrett, 14, and sister Alexis, 8, were left in school. Brother Conor, 21, who serves in the Coast Guard, was present at the ceremony.
A large group of his classmates from the academy also came to the ceremony, some on their day off, all in crisp blue uniforms too new to be adorned with stripes or bars.
Patrolman Bret LaBelle, 32, of Hyde Park, who is working a midnight shift in District 18, said Byrne was ''one of the big motivators for the class" to whom everyone gravitated. ''And all as a young kid," he said. ''He was like 22 when he started. So it was like a blow to the whole class when he got activated."
''Everyone said, 'When you get back, we're going to make this right,' " he added. ''Everyone was behind him 100 percent. He's perfect for the City of Boston."
Byrne served with the Navy Seabees in ground action that he rarely talks about, said his family.
''Whatever happened he just kind of left it there," said Eddie Byrne, his father, who also served in the Navy. ''But nothing that we've seen shows that he's changed."
After yesterday's ceremony, the media pestered the new officer with questions about the dangers of Boston's streets versus the dangers in Iraq.
''You lived through Iraq and now you're back in the city at one of the most dangerous times in a decade. Do you think you can handle it?" asked one reporter.
''It's good to be home. I'm ready to get started," Byrne replied. ''It's been a long year waiting, but I'm ready to get started now."
''Long year," he said of his time in Iraq. Asked again about the dangers he faces on Boston's streets, Byrne replied: ''I'm ready to get started. Already used to it, so I'm ready to go."
Byrne has three more years in the active reserves, making it possible that he could again be called back to Iraq. ''But right now," he said, ''it's all about the police."
''As the mother of three sons who are in the military, two who are serving in Iraq, I can relate to the challenges and the sacrifices that a military family must work to overcome," Deputy Superintendent Gladys Aquino-Gaines, the academy's commander, said in a voice that quivered with emotion as she talked about her family.
Casey Byrne said that her heart skipped a worried beat yesterday when she awoke to news of a double homicide in Allston and the new dangers her son was entering when he starts work on Thursday.
''It does make me a little nervous," she said. ''But at least here in Boston, he's living at home and I know where he is."
Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com.
Ellie