By: Brian Zanzonico
Since returning from Iraq in June, the Lakeview resident has been working for Homeland Security at JFK International Airport as an explosive trace detection screener while juggling classes at Nassau Community College. He rises early enough to make a 6:30 a.m. class, then musters the energy to begin his baggage screening job at 3 p.m. At 11:30 p.m., he quits work and heads home, where he has spent most of his time since coming home from war a Purple Heart recipient.
You know we-re the last line of defense, Prescott, 23, said about his job.
Prescott, a member of the New York Army National Guard, served in Iraq on active duty for over a year with the 442 Military Police Company and was attached to the 716th Military Police Battalion of the 101st Airborne. In September 2003, Prescott was driving a Humvee, the last vehicle in a convoy headed toward a battle in Baghdad. He drove over a crude explosive device and was knocked unconscious by the blow. A sergeant sitting next to him grabbed the wheel and steered the vehicle to safety. Prescott never lost consciousness and was taken to a hospital in Baghdad. He was awarded a Purple Heart medal for sustaining an injury in combat but remained in Iraq another 9 months.
It made me want to do my job even better, he said.
He credits the outpouring of support from the community with getting him through the war, where he is still eligible to return at a moment-s notice. Teachers and students from his alma mater, Malverne High School, constantly sent letters to him in Iraq detailing their appreciation for the troops- many sacrifices. Letters and care packages also poured in from Lakeview, Rockville Centre and Tanglewood.
My focus was to get through each day out there and make it the best day, as if there was no tomorrow, he said.
Prescott-s focus now is to earn his associate-s degree at Nassau Community College and eventually work toward a Master-s Degree in criminal justice. He wants to work for a federal agency one day, perhaps with the FBI or CIA. He said his baggage screening job is a great place to start because you cannot relax for a moment, just like in war.
I-ve got to make sure nothing gets on a plane, he said.
Prescott-s hectic schedule has turned him into a bit of a homebody. He occasionally catches up with friends and has no time for a girlfriend, but that-s fine with him. He is a family man anyway.
But as families sit down to Christmas dinner Saturday, Prescott will do so without his parents.
His mother, Portia, and father James, a retired Brooklyn detective, are traveling to Spain to visit his brother Jonathan, a Seabee with the Navy.
My Christmas gift is to continue to have the support I have, to know that I have a family that cares for me and can help me make it through any situation no matter where I am in the world, he said.
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