The Arizona Republic
Jan. 24, 2006 01:05 PM
A Chandler man who broke bad news to countless families in his
previous career as a cop knew what had happened as soon as he
opened his door Friday night.
Three Marines in full dress uniform were there to tell Mark Dewey that his son, Brandon, had been killed by a car bomb earlier that day in Iraq.
The 20-year-old lance corporal was serving his second Iraq tour.
"I have been there on the other end so many times," said Dewey, 53, who moved to the Lexington Place neighborhood with his wife, Shelly, in December 2004 after he retired from the Union City, Calif., police department in the Bay Area. "I had to give people the horrible news of their loved ones. It's not easy."
Dewey said he could tell a couple of the Marines hadn't had much experience on the notification detail, but "they put me at ease. They did a very professional, compassionate job."
Although his son first became interested in the Marines as a Boy Scout, Dewey said his personality belied the dour look on his official Marine photo.
"He was a happy, good-hearted, good-natured, squared-away, always smiling kid," his dad said. "In many ways he was a man but in other ways he was still a kid. He was addicted to video games and he loved to read. He was waiting for the paperback version of the Da Vinci Code to come out" so it would be light enough to carry in the field.
Brandon was in a Boy Scout troop that was run by Marines in Tracy, Calif. He signed up for early entry while he was in high school and enlisted shortly after graduating from Merrill West High School in 2003.
His first tour in Iraq ran from June 2004 until January 2005. His second tour began in September and was to end in April. Brandon planned to follow his father into law enforcement when his Marine enlistment ended in 2007.
While spending a couple of weeks in Arizona last summer before returning to Iraq. Brandon and his dad talked at length about a law enforcement career.
Although he never lived in Arizona, Brandon loved the state, Mark and Shelly said, including partying with childhood friends at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Details from Friday's car bomb in the Haqlaniyah region, which killed Brandon and another Marine, are still coming in. But this wasn't the first time he had been involved in an Iraqi car bombing, Dewey said.
In the first incident, two cars exploded within about 20 yards with Brandon receiving shrapnel wounds to his hands and neck, as well as damage to his hearing. Brandon, who received a Purple Heart, was back in battle in a week.
Brandon called shortly after that attack.
"We were driving through Quartzsite at about 2 a.m. when we got a call from Brandon," Dewey recalled. "Because his hearing was affected, he was yelling into the phone. He said "Dad, I just wanted to tell you I'm OK. You will be getting a call in a few days from the Marines telling you that."
This time, Mark Dewey received the dreaded knock on the door.
Brandon Dewey is survived by his father and stepmother, Mark and Shelly Dewey, of Chandler; his mother, Julia Conover, of Tracy, Calif.; and sister, Elyse, who is Navy seaman in cryptography (message decoding) training in Pensacola, Fla.
A memorial Web site has been established at http:brandondewey.remembering-you.org.
Three Marines in full dress uniform were there to tell Mark Dewey that his son, Brandon, had been killed by a car bomb earlier that day in Iraq.
The 20-year-old lance corporal was serving his second Iraq tour.
"I have been there on the other end so many times," said Dewey, 53, who moved to the Lexington Place neighborhood with his wife, Shelly, in December 2004 after he retired from the Union City, Calif., police department in the Bay Area. "I had to give people the horrible news of their loved ones. It's not easy."
Dewey said he could tell a couple of the Marines hadn't had much experience on the notification detail, but "they put me at ease. They did a very professional, compassionate job."
Although his son first became interested in the Marines as a Boy Scout, Dewey said his personality belied the dour look on his official Marine photo.
"He was a happy, good-hearted, good-natured, squared-away, always smiling kid," his dad said. "In many ways he was a man but in other ways he was still a kid. He was addicted to video games and he loved to read. He was waiting for the paperback version of the Da Vinci Code to come out" so it would be light enough to carry in the field.
Brandon was in a Boy Scout troop that was run by Marines in Tracy, Calif. He signed up for early entry while he was in high school and enlisted shortly after graduating from Merrill West High School in 2003.
His first tour in Iraq ran from June 2004 until January 2005. His second tour began in September and was to end in April. Brandon planned to follow his father into law enforcement when his Marine enlistment ended in 2007.
While spending a couple of weeks in Arizona last summer before returning to Iraq. Brandon and his dad talked at length about a law enforcement career.
Although he never lived in Arizona, Brandon loved the state, Mark and Shelly said, including partying with childhood friends at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Details from Friday's car bomb in the Haqlaniyah region, which killed Brandon and another Marine, are still coming in. But this wasn't the first time he had been involved in an Iraqi car bombing, Dewey said.
In the first incident, two cars exploded within about 20 yards with Brandon receiving shrapnel wounds to his hands and neck, as well as damage to his hearing. Brandon, who received a Purple Heart, was back in battle in a week.
Brandon called shortly after that attack.
"We were driving through Quartzsite at about 2 a.m. when we got a call from Brandon," Dewey recalled. "Because his hearing was affected, he was yelling into the phone. He said "Dad, I just wanted to tell you I'm OK. You will be getting a call in a few days from the Marines telling you that."
This time, Mark Dewey received the dreaded knock on the door.
Brandon Dewey is survived by his father and stepmother, Mark and Shelly Dewey, of Chandler; his mother, Julia Conover, of Tracy, Calif.; and sister, Elyse, who is Navy seaman in cryptography (message decoding) training in Pensacola, Fla.
A memorial Web site has been established at http:brandondewey.remembering-you.org.