Sergeant Sean McCabe tells The Queens Courier One soldier’s story

Few would argue that Sergeant Sean McCabe is a hero, but fewer understand the sacrifice he made to be one.
Now home in Howard Beach after a year in Baghdad and one more in Fort Hood, Texas, McCabe said he is proud of the time he served as a member of the 4th Infantry Division’s Alpha Company Task Force 277.
Still, his story is not one of pure glory, of idealized virtue. McCabe is not shy to speak of the hardship.
“It was hot, tiring, dangerous, scary,” said McCabe. “There are no days off.”
McCabe called it “odd” to call himself a veteran, one of the “tough, salty dogs” he admired growing up. After all, at 24, most of McCabe’s life - and goals - remain ahead.
Those goals include membership in Community Board 10 (CB 10), where he served before enlisting, and most importantly, membership in the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).
“I’ve seen enough lives taken,” he said. “It’s time to save a few.”
Relentless in his pursuit of civic duty, McCabe said his willingness to “raise his hand” for others comes from growing up in a family that values “morality, honor and integrity. When you’re a kid growing up with that, you tend to follow suit.”
But his sense of obligation never included the military - until 911.
“He said something I’ll never forget,” said Councilmember Joe Addabbo, a family friend who remembers a younger Sean, before he donned the army fatigues. “After the towers came down, and he was watching military footage, he said, ‘Why can those men serve and I can’t?’”
Shortly thereafter, said Addabbo, McCabe enlisted, though he did not tell his family until after the de-enlistment window had closed.
“My family couldn’t believe it,” said McCabe. “I called it ‘Operation Shock-and-Awe.’ But there was no draft. This is all gonna come down to the guys who raise their hand, and I wanted to be one of them.”
“I cried for a week,” said Pat McCabe, Sean’s mother. “I knew there was nothing I could do, and I cried for a week.”
But the McCabes’ tears were only beginning.
Sean’s maternal grandmother died in May of 2006, and then Sean’s father, Timothy McCabe, a cancer patient, learned that his condition was worsening.
“We kept telling Sean he was okay, that he was gonna pull through,” said his mother. “It was so hard, because you don’t want to lie to him, but he’s already going through so much over there.”
“I remember the day I found out how bad it was,” said Sean. “It was a tough day - fire fights all day. Some of our guys got hit. I came in, already angry, pissed off, and my battalion commander said they had a call for me from home. At first, it was just pure anger. I thought he was already gone.”
Sean found out his father was still alive, but when he arrived in New York on emergency leave, an uncle told him he might not last the night.
“Tim told the doctors, ‘you have to keep me alive long enough to see my son,’” recalled Pat McCabe. “But we weren’t sure it was going to happen.”
“I don’t know what happened, but when he saw me, he perked up,” said Sean. “I told him ‘I’ve got all ten fingers, ten toes, I’m fine. Now you do what you gotta do.’ He ended up staying alive for about a week-and-a-half.”
Despite losing two family members during his tour, McCabe considers himself “blessed.”
“A friend of mine in Iraq, his father was killed by a drunk driver,” said McCabe. “He didn’t get a chance to see him or say anything. I did.”
But, while McCabe admits no bitterness, he is far from ignorant of the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). McCabe said he often grows suspicious of people he passes, and, when with his girlfriend, Baysider Melanie Castellano, will sometimes cross the street to avoid someone who “seems sketchy.” On occasion, he will also wake from deep sleep and assume a defensive stance, added Castellano.
“I’m definitely anxious,” he said. “But I raised my hand for this. Some guys get real self-destructive. They get into drugs, drinking. I’m not that self-destructive.”
McCabe, like every soldier, has his personal feelings about the war, but says, “It’s not about politics, it’s about brotherhood.”
“Once the first bullet goes flying by, you’re not fighting for the president, or Iraq,” he said. “You’re fighting for each other.”
That brotherhood includes not only the men in his company, but all veterans, from all generations.
“You can always find a veteran,” he said. “You just give them a look . . . they’ll just give you a little pat on the back. They know.”
After his tour of duty, McCabe still has a desire to do good.
“I still have to serve my community,” he said. “It’s just duty. That’s all it is.”