United States Navy Chief Petty Officer Mario McKenna was born in Providence, Rhode Island and raised in East Providence, Rhode Island. McKenna grew up moving around a lot and was very academically driven, being the first person in his family to graduate from high school in 25 years. He loved to work, do construction, school, and sports. He has had a strong work ethic for most of his life, having had to help pay bills from the age of 14. After graduating high school in 2008, McKenna joined the Navy and decided to make it a career for a better life and for the opportunity to pay for a college education in the future. Throughout his career, McKenna served in NAVIO Det Groton, Connecticut, USS Harry S. Truman CVN75, NSA, CSS Ft. Meade, and SPEC RECON 2. His goals were to become Chief Warrant Officer and later, retirement. While serving on the USS Harry S. Truman, McKenna and his wife, Breanna, met and they have been married for nine years.
McKenna has many notable accomplishments from his honorable service, including being selected for chief warrant officer prior to his injury, NIOC MD Sailor of the year in 2016, NSA Military Performer of the year in 2016, selected to Chief Officer in 2018, and many personal awards including meritorious service medal, joint service commendation medal, joint service achievement medal, Navy achievement medal x4, and Afghanistan campaign medal.
On the day of the tragic incident that led to his catastrophic injuries, McKenna dove into the water and hit his head on a sandbar. This is a dive he had done multiple times in the past. Upon being rushed to the level one trauma center in his city, it was confirmed that McKenna sustained a C5 spinal cord injury. After surgery, he spent two weeks in the hospital and then an additional four months in two different rehabilitation facilities. Since returning home, he has been navigating life as a tetraplegic. He would like to thank his wife, Breanna, his children, Carter and Penelope, and his in-laws, Pam and David, for being his support system throughout his recovery process.
Currently, McKenna loves to watch his children play baseball, softball, football, and video games and he is excited to continue to watch them grow up. In the future, McKenna is looking forward to navigating work life once he is retired from the Navy. Receiving support from Tunnel to Towers helped the McKenna family by giving them a positive outlook on life in a Smart Home where he is able to get around independently, shower comfortably, and cook for his family again. He would like others to remember to remain resilient through bad times. Keep your head up and try to keep moving forward; life goes on.