Young Tyler Hanover found himself in a predicament. His legs dangled helplessly in the wind with his underwear snagged atop a stop sign. He didn’t get there by accident. His older brother, Brendan Drohan, put him there.
It would be hard to tell Hanover and Drohan – who are half-brothers – were related strictly based on looks.
Hanover is a successful athlete at a Division I baseball hotbed, but he stands only 5-foot-6. Meanwhile, Hanover estimates Drohan is about “6-foot-2 and 250 pounds of solid muscle.”
“He told me, ‘Hey, you’re going to have to get out one way or the other. You’ll either find a way out or rip your underwear,'” Hanover said. “I ended up ripping my underwear and falling.” Moments like these detail what both described as a typical big-brother-picks-on-little-brother relationship. Drohan is nine years older, and he has always dwarfed LSU’s senior third baseman.
But their relationship changed the day Drohan left for the Army.
“[When] I left for Basic Training … it was the longest I had been away from my family, and I think we took the time we did spend together for granted,” Drohan said. “It took separation to bring us closer.”
Sgt. Drohan is currently at his North Carolina home enjoying time with his wife and two kids. He wants to make the trip to Baton Rouge to watch his little brother play, but time is not on his side.
Drohan’s two weeks of mid-deployment leave will soon be up, and he’ll be back in southern Afghanistan with his unit.
“I was hoping to see a series while home,” Drohan said. “But with the kids and only two weeks to take care of everything, it does not look like it will happen. But I know he understands.” The 31-year-old Drohan – a reservist – serves as a wheeled vehicle mechanic with the Winston Salem, N.C.-based 883rd route clearance company. The deployment is his second to a combat zone.
“There was a realization for Tyler for what Brendan was willing to sacrifice,” said the brothers’ mother, Elizabeth Hanover.
Drohan’s service is both a source of pride and angst for Hanover, who always has his older brother in his thoughts. “Tyler talks all the time about how close he is with his brother,” said junior first baseman Mason Katz. “It’s tough for him because he doesn’t get to see him much.” Since Hanover is a North Carolina native, the closest things he has to family in Baton Rouge are teammates like Katz, who do the best they can to provide a kind ear, but the reality is most of them they don’t see the full picture.
They can’t. They’ve never been there.
“I’m an hour away from home, my parents come to every single game, the most I go without seeing my sister is three days,” Katz said. “I can’t really relate, but I try to help him out as much as possible.”
It’s even hard to fathom for LSU coach Paul Mainieri, who has had several of his former players from his tenure at the Air Force Academy go on to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I can only imagine what it would be like to have a family member deployed in harm’s way,” Mainieri said. “I can’t imagine that it leaves your thoughts for very long. For him to be able to concentrate on going to school and playing baseball knowing that his brother is over there, I’m sure it’s hard for him.”
Knowing his brother is in harm’s way is hard for Hanover, but it’s something he’s dealt with before.
Drohan’s first deployment was in 2005-06, when he spent 18 months in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. It was a turning point in the brothers’ relationship, according to Hanover.
“That hit me hard,” Hanover said. “That was the first time I really felt close to him.”
Where there was once a sibling rivalry, there is a new relationship built on respect.
Hanover left North Carolina for Baton Rouge before his brother’s departure for Afghanistan in October, but first he made sure to tell Drohan about his admiration for his sacrifice.
“I remember telling him before I left that it was hard for me to tell him that he was actually the person I looked up to the most,” Hanover said. “He was someone who I thought was a hero and … I try to take that mentality out here every day and try to work as hard as I can.”
That hard work is channeled on the baseball field, where Hanover spends hours perfecting his craft.
The coaches notice his dedication.
“I’m sure Tyler is very proud of his brother and thinks about him often,” Mainieri said. “But I think Tyler honors him as well by the way he plays. He gives it his very best effort at all times. Tyler’s a kid that never does anything less than full effort.”
But Hanover has a sense of what’s important. It’s not lost on him that he’s playing a game while his brother is in danger. “Life is short and you can only accomplish so much, but yet he’s out there fighting for our country,” Hanover said. “I just try to take that mentality and try to push myself to the fullest.” Each tick of the clock brings Drohan closer to his imminent return to Afghanistan. It’s hard for the family to stomach, but they’re appreciative of what little time they get with him until he’s back for good.
“It’s hard, but it’s great to see him,” Elizabeth Hanover said. “There’s nothing better than being able to hug your son.”
 
_____ Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]