I am traveling right now with my family, so I don’t have a lot of time to type a whole bunch. It is very late where I am and we just got into our hotel. Anyway, the Buffalo News ran a story today with CPT Roger Lance (Rog-O), SSG David Glidden (Mouse) and myself. They interviewed us about two weeks ago since all 3 of us from my original NY team are from the Buffalo area. I have been working with the reporter since then and exchanged several emails with him on the story, getting him some pictures to run in it and other topics. Anyway, the story ran today and somehow through some sort of freak of nature, they got my name wrong and called me Tony instead of Troy. The reporter emailed me tonight very apologetic and completely ashamed that this somehow happened. Accidents happen, and being a former journalist myself I know it is the worst fear a journalist has is to make such a grave error. He will be harder on himself than anyone else will, including me. I am sure it is something he won’t forget for a long time.
Anyway, you can read the article at www.buffalonews.com/home/story/106058.html
Just remember I am the one they call Tony. Maybe it is a New York thing, I don’t know….
Monthly Archives: June 2007
Posting again on my Military Blog
I have started posting again on my Military Blog. I have registered this site now on milblogging.com and will start posting to it regularly. You can access this site from my main website at www.bouhammer.com, and then clicking on Military Blog.
On this blog site I will discuss all that is military. Anything that is specific to my tour in Afghanistan will still be on my Afghanistan Blog, but other things like my opinions, comments on current military happenings, relaying of good information that I stumble across on news sites or other blogs, and generally everything military related will be on this Military Blog. I sure you can find your way over there and continue reading it. I also plan on replying to comments more there than I ever did on this one. I hope to have some lively discussions about the military on the Military blog.
Happy reading….
Interview Posted
I have posted an MP3 copy of the interview that aired this morning on WBFO. You can access it at www.bouhammer.com/download/Steward.mp3.
During the actual live broadcast this morning, they aired this interview 3 times after the syndicated NPR radio broadcast. The DJ did a little intro that is not heard in this pre-taped interview, or at least he did when I listened it at 9:33 AM this morning.
Radio Interview to air on Tue, June 19th
The radio interview I conducted last week will air on Tuesday morning at 5:33 AM, 7:33 AM, and 9:33 AM, on 88.7 FM (WBFO) in the Buffalo area. If you go to their site at www.wbfo.org they have a link to listen live, and the reporter told me today the interview will be posted on their website later in the day.
I have a final copy of the interview and may be posting in later on Tuesday on my own website at www.bouhammer.com.
We are back from DC now, and I will be writing more about that later on the Stew Blog, so be sure to check there to read all about our trip.
AWOL
Sorry I have been AWOL lately, things continue to be crazy around my house since returning a little over 4 weeks ago. The projects around home are slowly getting checked off and some things are being completed but at the same time it seems like I am adding more to my list. I have always been a person that thrives on stress and a hectic schedule, so after living on a natural high of adrenaline for the last year it has not surprised me that I have kept on the go since getting back. Talking to my brother today, he even noted that if I don’t have four balls juggling in the air at once then something must be wrong.
I have been in contact with about half of my team from Afghanistan, mostly by phone but a few I have seen in person. In fact, the other night Rog-O (Roger Lance) and I along with our two beautiful wives went out to a nice dinner and drinks afterwards. It was great spending time with him and enjoying some laughs.
I have also been dealing with some media lately. A few weeks ago Roger, Mouse (Dave Glidden), and myself all were interviewed by the Buffalo News newspaper. They are still following up with us on a few more questions and are going to be using some of my photos from this website for the story. Today I also conducted an in-studio interview with WBFO (www.wbfo.org) radio station. You can listen to their station over the web, so as soon as I know when that interview will be aired (should be next week), I will post a blog entry on here so people can tune in over the internet and listen if they would like.
I still have not went and got my boat out of storage yet, but hope to do that next week. The boys are bugging me every day asking me when we are going to go out on the boat, so I need to do it soon to quiet them up. This weekend Christine and I will be heading to Washington DC to enjoy our first weekend getaway since I got back and to attend the Army’s 232nd Birthday Ball. It will be a nice time I am sure and will definitely help in the re-unification process. Of course I will have to be all dressed up in my Dress Blue Uniform, but after this weekend I don’t think I will see a uniform for a few months. Maybe it will be time to grow that goatee again….
AWOL
Sorry I have been AWOL lately, things continue to be crazy around my house since returning a little over 4 weeks ago. The projects around home are slowly getting checked off and some things are being completed but at the same time it seems like I am adding more to my list. I have always been a person that thrives on stress and a hectic schedule, so after living on a natural high of adrenaline for the last year it has not surprised me that I have kept on the go since getting back. Talking to my brother today, he even noted that if I don’t have four balls juggling in the air at once then something must be wrong.
I have been in contact with about half of my team from Afghanistan, mostly by phone but a few I have seen in person. In fact, the other night Rog-O (Roger Lance) and I along with our two beautiful wives went out to a nice dinner and drinks afterwards. It was great spending time with him and enjoying some laughs.
I have also been dealing with some media lately. A few weeks ago Roger, Mouse (Dave Glidden), and myself all were interviewed by the Buffalo News newspaper. They are still following up with us on a few more questions and are going to be using some of my photos from this website for the story. Today I also conducted an in-studio interview with WBFO (www.wbfo.org) radio station. You can listen to their station over the web, so as soon as I know when that interview will be aired (should be next week), I will post a blog entry on here so people can tune in over the internet and listen if they would like.
I still have not went and got my boat out of storage yet, but hope to do that next week. The boys are bugging me every day asking me when we are going to go out on the boat, so I need to do it soon to quiet them up. This weekend Christine and I will be heading to Washington DC to enjoy our first weekend getaway since I got back and to attend the Army’s 232nd Birthday Ball. It will be a nice time I am sure and will definitely help in the re-unification process. Of course I will have to be all dressed up in my Dress Blue Uniform, but after this weekend I don’t think I will see a uniform for a few months. Maybe it will be time to grow that goatee again….
Memorial Day 2007
Memorial Day 2007 was a special day for me personally. I woke up that morning with a mission and knew what I had to do that day. There were a couple special events that I had to do on that day. It was special to me because I was home and was not in Afghanistan. Last memorial day I was in Afghanistan, and honestly don’t even really remember what I did that day. I do know that it wasn’t but a few days after Memorial Day 2006 when some of my guys got into their first ambush and firefight with the enemy. That part I do remember for sure about last year.
So Memorial Day this year I got up, watched Hunter as he watched cartoons, drank my coffee and read the paper. After getting showered and dressed, Christine, Jon, and I left to take a trip to the south-towns. I had to visit some special soldiers of mine on this day. This day is meant for them and many others I know whom never returned home to hug their families. After stopping to pick up some flowers, we went to visit the Holy Cross cemetery to spend some time with SGT David Routsum. He was my soldier that I lost on November 20th, 2004 in Iraq. Dave was a special soldier and a special man and he is one I will never forget. I carry his name on a bracelet which I wore every day in Afghanistan and I don’t think I ever took it off. After I spent some private time with Dave, Christine and Jon joined me so we could put flowers on his gravesite and spend some more time with him.
From Dave’s site I went to a gravesite that I had not seen yet. PFC Ben Schuster was another soldier of mine killed in Iraq, and unfortunately it happened after I mobilized and deployed. I was never able to attend his funeral, so I had never been to his gravesite before. Ben is located in the Veteran’s section of a large cemetery in Buffalo that Christine and Jordan go to every year in order to put flags on Veteran’s graves. His grave marker really stands out and looks nice. His family did a good job on it and it was very moving to spend some time with him and catch up in addition to finally say goodbye.
After spending some time with my soldiers we drove home and on the way home many other soldier’s names that I know slipped into my head. Soldiers that have also never come home. Some were friends of mine that I lost in Desert Storm, some have been lost in wars since and of course there are those that have died since 9/11. I also thought of those vets that have not necessarily dropped in combat but served their country nevertheless. People like my best friend, SFC (ret) Lou Legier who was killed several years ago on a motorcycle which robbed many in this world of a great man. I also thought of my Uncle Corky who just passed the week before, or of Mouse’s mom who spent over 20 years in the US Army Reserves. To me this day is all about doing exactly this. Remembering those that fought for this country, those that made the ultimate sacrifice, remembering those that will never walk off a plane and into the arms of their loved ones. It is not about having a day off from work, sales at Sears or Home Depot, or a reason to sleep in. I wish more people would remember that and maybe just go to a local cemetery and walk through the headstones of vets that have fallen.
After returning home, I sat down with my family and enjoyed a nice dinner together. After dinner I gave Jon and Jordan a coming home present that Christine and I decided to get for them before I got home. I took them to a concert by a group called Fall Out Boy. It was a great concert and we got to go there with Face. Face drove across the state to join up with us and we all went together. It was a time that my boys and I could spend together, bonding and enjoying a good show. We got home late that night and as I lay in bed with ringing ears, I reverted back to where I was earlier in the day, thinking of real heroes. All of those faces and names kept going through my head and I could not get rid of them. So that was how my Memorial Day ended, with names I will never call out again in person and with faces that only live in my memories.