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I am so happy to announce that in partnership with Initially Yours embroidery and www.Vision-Strike-wear.com that there are now exclusive and sharp looking Port Authority polo-style shirts and a variety of hat styles now available at the Bouhammer Gear Store. These shirts look and feel great. I have two of them and 3 other fans of this site are also now sporting them. The hats are terrific too, representing several different popular styles from the low profile to the fitted to the distressed looks. Head on over to the Bouhammer Gear Store today to see everything we have there and to click the links which will take you to the exclusive Bouhammer Store at www.vision-strike-wear.com and place your order.
The Port Authority polo-style Shirts below can be ordered in a variety of colors. They all come with the Bouhammer-1 logo on the front and a American Flag and the Bouhammer motto on the back neck. These are sharp looking shirts that are high-quality and are very comfortable.
All of the great looking custom embroidered hats below are high-quality pieces of headgear. They have the Bouhammer-1 Logo on the front and an American Flag and the website embroidered on the back. We have four different styles available with one more coming soon.
A good friend of mine sent this to me, and I think it does a great job in a few minutes of video to show why we are the great nation that we are and why we celebrate Independence Day in the country.
In addition to this great video that I am sharing with you I want to announce a new trend on Twitter I am starting called #GreatAmerican Tuesday. Every Tuesday I encourage all whom are on twitter to put up a tweet with the hashtag #GreatAmerican and the twitter names of those (military, non-military, whomever) that you consider to be truly Great Americans and exemplify all that America stands for.
My very first unit was 2/5 Cavalry and I am very proud to have been a Black Knight. On this day as we celebrate Iraq taking over more security of their country and our soldiers pulling back from the major cities we see that War is War and it is still a dangerous place.
In 2006 I was telling people to not write off Afghanistan because there was very much a war going on there. Today I say the same thing about Iraq. Just because the MSM isn’t telling you about it every night, does not mean it is not happening.
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. Timothy A. David, 28, of Gladwin, Mich., died June 28 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered earlier in Sadr City, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
For Pfc. Andrew Parker, it was a bittersweet homecoming: He was hailed as a hero, feted with a star-spangled parade and showered with gifts at a welcome home ceremony. He had to watch it all from a wheelchair.
Parker, a 21-year-old U.S. Army cavalry scout, was paralyzed last November when a roadside bomb blew up the vehicle he was driving on patrol in Afghanistan.
On Saturday, after months of rehabilitation in Veterans Administration hospitals and a community fundraising effort that added wheelchair-accessible accommodations to his parents’ house, the wounded warrior came home.
Many called him a hero, toasting his sacrifice or giving him gifts – a key to the town, a check for $100,000, a lifetime pass to the adaptive ski program at Smugglers’ Notch ski resort and full scholarship offers from Norwich University and Johnson State College, among other things.
Riding in his wheelchair in the back of a flatbed truck, a smiling Parker took in the flag-waving well wishers and the hand-lettered signs – "For your sacrifice and our freedom" and "Thank you, Andrew" among them – on a six-mile parade to Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7779.
"To welcome him like this, it means a lot," said organizer Diane Marcoux-Laclair, 54. "It means a lot. `Cause he’s paid a big price."
In the bombing, Parker was thrown from the vehicle and landed on his head, breaking his neck. He was paralyzed from the chest down. He has movement in his arms but his hands are severely injured.
His injury triggered an outpouring of support in his small northern Vermont hometown.
Marcoux-Laclair – Parker’s former kindergarten teacher – and others began soliciting donations and in-kind services so his parents could renovate their modest ranch house, turning a garage into a new living space with a wheelchair ramp, special shower, bed and living area.
All told, the work cost about $100,000.
"It would’ve been a heckuva’ lot tougher without all this support," said his father, Greg Barnes.
The American Legion, VFW, Norwich University, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart and numerous others participated in the parade.
"I cried the whole way," said his mother, Winnie Barnes. "Tears of joy."
The process was greeted by a phalanx of honor guards lining the entrance to the VFW post, where Parker was hoisted onto a stage and sat quietly as more than two dozen speakers, including Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas.
Parker, an aspiring teacher who acquaintances say is a man of few words, never spoke during the ceremony, except when a flustered speaker said she hadn’t expected to be called up to the podium. "They didn’t tell me I was going to be up here, either," he cracked, drawing a laugh from the crowd.
Asked about all the accolades after, he said: "It was awesome."
Parker, who plans to attend college and wants to be a history teacher, is already planning his next moves. One of them is getting out of the wheelchair.
"His spirit throughout all of this has been amazing. He’s bound and determined he’s going to get through this. He’s looked at me straight in the eye and told me `I’m going to walk again,’" said Marcoux-Laclair.
I wrote a post on Saturday titled “Someone More Important than Michael Jackson Died†which has turned into an extremely popular posting based on the website traffic I am seeing. I have had many family and friends of Brian Bradshaw leave comments to that posting for which I am humbled and grateful.
I did not know Brian and for that I am sorry. But I wrote that he was someone more important because of the sacrifice he had made. Of course it is not just Brian, but every single American that has laid their life down in sacrifice to this country. It just happened that Brian left this earth on the same day as Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.
I didn’t know Brian but through the comments on that blog post I have gotten to know him better. One of those comments was from Brian’s parents where they posted a quote from this mighty young man and warrior. I didn’t want this very insightful quote to be lost so I am re-posting it here for all to see, because I think all of you need to. His words speak volumes and exemplifies the character of not only Brian but also thousands of Great Americans that are, have or are supporting those who serve this country every single day.
Service is the foundation of life. Without service, our life’s have the same impact and meaning as a stick lying on the ground. No one remembers the sticks stepped on in the woods, but everyone remembers the flowers they see and smell in the meadow. If we serve and work throughout our life we will be like the flower that everyone remembers and always comes back. In our memory many more, especially those that we touched during our life will carry on the legacy of service, thus we had a positive impact on others and life had meaning. The whole meaning of life is to pass on to others that which we value most and what I value is service and throughout the rest of my life I will serve the community of my brethren to the best of my ability.†Brian Bradshaw 2002
The moving Vietnam Memorial Wall has been in Knox Park in East Aurora, New York since Saturday. I went tonight to see it right before the storm hit and was equally pleased to see another memorial there…one to all the fallen of OIF and OEF.
They have these big plaques with gold dog tags in them with the names, dates, rank of every fallen soldier in both wars. It felt very good to rub the names of great soldiers I know or know of like Roustum, Scheuster, Rodriguez, Seabrooks, Mangano, Lundell, Deghand, Rafferty, and McCloughlin.
The memorial is going to be taken down at dusk on Monday night, with a closing cermony. So if you live in the Western New York area and read this blog you have until then to get down there and see it.
