Welcome home Selectman Sgt Bennett

Selectman, Sgt. Bennett welcomed home

Board of Selectmen Chairman Sgt. Jeffrey Bennett sits at the table during Monday’s meeting, his first after returning from serving nine months in Afghanistan. Kerry O'Brien News Staff Writer TEMPLETON — After serving nine months in Afghanistan, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, Sgt. Jeffrey Bennett of the Massachusetts Army National Guard returned home to Templeton last week. “I was overseas doing something I volunteered to do — no one forced me to do it,” Sgt. Bennett said. “I think the town of Templeton is very special group for supporting me.” A native and resident of town for decades, Sgt. Bennett — a retired Marine sergeant — was put on active service in September, in the midst of his three-year term on the selectmen which began in May 2011. “My unit was activated,” Sgt. Bennett explained. “We’re a construction company — we have plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and we build stuff, as strange as it seems with a war going on. It’s an ongoing process and we build for the coalitions of troops for Operation Enduring Freedom.” In a Board of Selectmen’s meeting he called to be held Monday, Sgt. Bennett thanked the community for the support he received while he was deployed. “I have to thank a lot of people  who mailed all kinds of things from Dunkin Donuts coffee to chocolate to magazines and pictures,” he said. “It’s very humbling to me that people took the time and the effort to send stuff overseas. It really helps when you get stuff from home, so I thank you, it was really appreciated.” Although it was not a regularly scheduled meeting, Sgt. Bennett said he wanted to jump back into the goings-on in town. “I was able to keep up with current events in town and in the state via cell phone and the Internet,” he said, “but I thought it was worthwhile to hear what people have to say.” “I really enjoy this job,” he continued. “I enjoy talking to the people of Templeton.”