Capt. Brian Brennan, double amputee became new commander

Double amputee now leads MCoE company
By VINCE LITTLE
THE BAYONET
Wednesday, Sep. 19, 2012

Earlier this month, Capt. Brian Brennan became the new commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Maneuver Center of Excellence, in a routine ceremony on Main Post. Four years ago, however, it was unclear if he’d even speak again — or emerge from a coma. Leading Soldiers seemed unthinkable.

Brennan’s life-changing event occurred in the highly volatile eastern region of Afghanistan, not far from the Pakistan border. As a first lieutenant and platoon leader with the 101st Airborne Division’s 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, he lost both his legs to a roadside bomb and was left with an “unmistakable vegetative stare” after suffering severe traumatic brain injury, his Family said.

After being evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, he was stirred from a 23-day coma by Gen. David Petraeus, then the Multi-National Force-Iraq commander, who came to visit wounded troops. The general’s whisper? “Currahee,” a Cherokee Indian word meaning “stand alone,” and the motto made famous by the “Band of Brothers” who fought with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II.
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