On 3rd tour, HHS grad chose humanitarian mission
After two tours of duty in Afghanistan, Douglas Mastriano decided if he ever returned he would make it his personal mission to have a direct impact on the lives of Afghans.
”After the completion of my second deployment in Afghanistan, I contemplated what we accomplished,” the lieutenant colonel said in an e-mail this week from his station in Germany. “We did a lot of good in fighting the war, but I was vexed by the thought that I did not have a direct and personal impact upon any Afghan. … God put it on my heart, that when I deployed again, it would be different.”
The Hightstown High School graduate did not have to wait long. After leaving Afghanistan for the army garrison at Heidelberg, Germany, in early 2007, Lt. Col. Mastriano was back in Kabul in late July 2007, leading a NATO joint intelligence center. While the duties given to him by his superiors did not include humanitarian relief, he decided to make it his unit’s mission anyway.
”Once in Kabul, I briefed my large multinational staff of soldiers representing 18 nations on what I wanted to do,” he said. “We did this on our own and while off duty. It was the right thing to do.”
Lt. Col. Mastriano instructed the other soldiers to write home to their friends, families and churches to gather donations of clothes, blankets, toys, food and other products that are in short supply for many Afghans.
”It was not long before we were inundated by material donations; boxes everywhere,” he said. “We did not have to look hard to find people to help. The orphans and widows are in a hard position. They are taken advantage of and need help. Some have nothing; others are exploited.”
His unit first went to a large orphanage, which housed more than 150 children, to distribute the donations. He said the reaction of the children was something that deeply affected him.
”The kids were elated and overwhelmed. They had never had so much,” he said. “To see their faces light up was priceless. My soldiers were really touched. In my heart, I knew that we had to do this type of work often.”
In all, they would collect hundreds of boxes of supplies and distribute them in 12 separate relief missions. Lt. Col. Mastriano said he believed it was a good way to reach out to the next generation of Afghans.
”If nothing else, these kids saw a side of the U.S./Canadian/European soldiers and the generosity of our people that they are never told about in their society,” he said. “Being part of it was the most fulfilling part of being in Kabul.”
The 45-year-old grew up in Hightstown. His mother, Janice, is a former East Windsor Regional Board of Education member. She and her husband, Richard, still live in the borough.
A career officer in the Army who said he will be promoted to the rank of colonel within the next few months, Lt. Col. Mastriano is part of a military family tradition. His brothers and father also served in different branches of the armed forces.
And, he said, his inspiration to sign on came after seeing his dad wave to him from the open door of a Navy helicopter hovering 200 feet above his head outside his grandparents house in Dayton.
”This has a big impact on a kid,” he said. “I was impressed and thought that my dad was an incredible hero. He never forced or pressured us to join but by his example two of my older brothers joined the Marine Corps.”
Lt. Col. Mastriano joined the Army in 1986. He has been married for 21 years to his college sweetheart, Rebbie. They met at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pa., and have an 11-year-old son, Josiah. His family lives with him in Germany.
Along with his experiences in Afghanistan, he said he served along the West German border in the last years of the Cold War and was part of the initial attack in Operation Desert Storm along with various other appointments. He has never been injured in combat.
Lt. Col. Mastriano said the Army is a “sacred calling” for him and provides those who join it with many opportunities.
”I remember as a young lieutenant serving along the volatile Iron Curtain,” he said. “Being there at the tip of the spear, standing for freedom and for all that we hold precious against the repressive Communist regimes, was fulfilling.
”Then, one day, the Iron Curtain fell. The look in the eyes of the newly freed Eastern Europeans was priceless. I was among the first to welcome these people to the free world, and I thought, ‘It will never get better than this.’ But it did get better!”

