Bouhammer's Military Blog » Wall of Honor

A trip to Iraq

Bouhammer — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 04:25:11 +0000

Please check out www.blackfive.net/main/2011/11/108-hours-a-thank-you-and-mission-complete.html and read the quick story written by Gold Star Dad, Mr. Robert Stokley within days of his return back to the USA from Iraq. In a mission that took almost a year in the planning and was completely covert, he was able to go into Iraq to visit the area where his son was killed. At Blackfive.net you can read his feelings after just returning.

It is a tissue alert, but a powerful dispatch to read and digest. After reading it be sure and tune into You Served Radio (www.youservedradio.com) next Tuesday on December 6th from 8-10PM EST to listen to my good friend, Soldiers’ Angels Executive Director, author and documentary film star, Toby Nunn reflect on and discuss this trip and share the details from these 108+ hours.

Cooking With the Troops needs your help

Bouhammer — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:51:01 +0000

Bob and Blake who are the driving force behind Cooking With The Troops are great guys that are true patriots and have done wonders for our service-members around the world. They have cooked for troops from San Antonio to Landstuhl, Germany.
More can be explained in this video then I ever could type here.

To read a great wrap-up dispatch of their recent trip to the Brooke Army Medical Center (the premier DOD burn center) in San Antonio, TX check out cwtt.org/homefront-support/an-amazing-time-at-bamc/#more-79. There are awesome pictures and videos up there of the work they do and the impact they have had on troops lives and even the lives of those who volunteer to help.

CWWT has been running this fundraiser from Veterans Day to Thanksgiving and I feel terrible that this is the first post I have gotten up for them. However it is not too late. They need your help and to highlight the great things they do, they just announced the following BIG NEWS.

I imagine that few who read this will not know the name Richard D. “Dick” Winters. While the movieBand of Brothers made him famous, he was already well known within the military community for his outstanding leadership. His accomplishments make him an excellent exemplar for all the outstanding leadership shown on D-Day and beyond by those who led men in combat, which is the basis for theRichard D. Winters Leadership Project of the WWII Foundation.

As part of this effort, a statue of Dick Winters is being dedicated on 6 June 2012 in Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, Normandy, with a reception afterwards at the Utah Beach Museum. It is an honor and a pleasure to tell you that Cooking with the Troops will be providing the refreshments at the reception. Our goal is not just to provide tasty and appropriate food and drink to those attending, but to involve as many veterans-to-chefs and troops/vets interested in culinary/hospitality careers as possible.

We will not be able to do this without your help. Please help us help the current generation even as we honor those who served before.

Please click the button below to help out CWWT and donate a few dollars towards and organization that provides a meal worth being thankful for all throughout the year.

Matt Goss Veterans Day Weekend wrapup

Bouhammer — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:19:13 +0000

Well I know it has been a couple of days since I posted but to be quite honest, there was no time. Following me on twitter at www.twitter.com/bouhammer was the place to watch in order to get real-time updates. The reality was that I was there and back in less than 48 hours. I accomplished a lot in that amount of time. Matt Goss put on two great shows between Friday and Saturday nights, entertaining hundreds of people, to include around 90 Veterans and their guests. Not only did they get an awesome free show, but Caesars Palace provided a free dinner to the Veterans and their guests in the Lago Restaurant.

Needless to say many of those that were Matt’s and my invited guests those two night were extremely appreciative for the opportunity. There were current Active Duty Army and Air Force Veterans, National Guard Veterans, people who served a few years and others that retired after more than 20 years. One couple had just got married in Las Vegas the night before.

There were Korean War, Vietnam War, Desert Storm and Global War on Terror Veterans. Most were from the Las Vegas area or nearby, with the furthest traveling Veteran coming from Massachusetts. Matt had me open up both shows by explaining a little about why we put this event together and then introducing him and his band. As always he put on an awesome show and is one I can’t recommend enough if you go to Las Vegas. On both nights he repeatedly gave shout-outs to the Veterans in the audience. I am pretty sure those in the audience who were not Veterans saw first hand that he was sincere and cares about our warriors.After the shows, Matt leaves to go change real quick and then comes back to do a meet and greet and get pictures with people. As the line built up I explained to several of the vets waiting to talk to Matt and get a picture that there is a reason why there is such a line. He is not one of those picture and autograph kind of people who just shuffles guests along. Matt takes the time to talk to each person. They have his undivided attention as he looks them in the eye and talks to them.

Of course that makes the wait last a little while, but every single person gets their time with him. Needless to say once people got their chance with him they almost all came back to me to tell me how right I was and how impressed they were with him. The common theme of words I heard were “genuine”, “sincere”, and “real”. I knew this of course as I have known Matt for over two years and our friendship is tight, but I was glad to see others notice this.

One person asked me why he wasn’t “more popular” in the US? I told her it is coming, especially with his new album coming out next year, but that Matt likes to gain popularity through word of mouth and people that come see him spreading the word. The reality is that he is popular as his shows are pretty much sold out every weekend, so somebody wants to come see him. There are a lot of things in the works that will propel him to the US spotlight very soon I am sure.

In addition to Matt’s shows there were a lot of other great memories made and events that happened this weekend. But those were personal and I could not thank Matt enough for showing me such a great time.

For 48 hours he made me feel like a rock star, laying out the red carpet. It may have been a quick trip but will be one I will NEVER forget. Lastly I want to say a lot of people thanked me for helping to put this one, but I hope they know it was my honor and privilege to do so.

Even though I am a Veteran, I care about all vets and helping to show them a great night and some appreciation did as much for me as it may have done for them. I think the one bit of feedback Matt and I received after the show that really summed it up and reinforced why we did this and why all the work and time we spent on this was worth it was from one wife of a Veteran. She said

“……served in Vietnam and retired after 20 years. This is the most recognition he has ever received for his service in the Army. It was so heartwarming to see this done for our veterans and servicemen.”

Mission Accomplished…

Mrs. Bouhammer Guest Blog; Soldiers never turn their back on the flag

Bouhammer — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:59:01 +0000

Today, I stood in a field of flags and watched as my small group of Cub Scouts walked through the cemetery gently placing a flag at every headstone. I watched them as they moved in pairs from grave to grave. As I watched I noticed two small Cub Scouts about four rows away from the other scouts. What caught my attention was the gentleness I saw in them. As they approached each grave they kneeled beside the headstone and gently brushed away the leaves that were covering it with their gloved hands. After they finished removing the leaves, they measured with their fingers before they placed the flags. Then they took a step back and straightened their uniforms before they snapped to a salute. As I stood there I heard a faint whisper come out of their mouths “thank you for your service…” I was so touched that I had to turn away from them to pull myself together. I really didn’t want them to see me cry.

I stood there so proud of my little group of boys. The time we spent out in the cemetery passed so quickly not one boy asked ” how much longer?” or “when can we go?” They were so serious and carried themselves with a purpose that I haven’t witnessed before. I was constantly scanning to keep track of all of the boys. When my eyes fell on the two boys again, I saw them standing near a row of flags and chatting to each other about something that appeared to be serious to them. I walked close to see what they were so serious about. As I approached them and asked what was wrong, they informed me that the flags along the two closest rows to them were placed wrong. The flags were placed behind the headstone instead of in front of them. They asked me for permission to move the flags to their proper placement and of course I gave it to them.

My attention was quickly drawn to a large group of ROTC Cadets from a local college, who had begun gathering and chatting loudly between each other. Moments later the Commander in charge of the Cadets came to me and asked me “Do the boys over there belong to you?” Of course, I admitted that they were my boys. He then proceeded to tell me that my boys were messing with the flags that his cadets had placed and it was disrespectful and I needed to control them. I called the boys over even though I knew what they were doing. I wanted them by my side in case one of the cadets approached them. When the boys arrived at my side I looked to them and asked the boys to “please tell this nice man why you are moving the flags that his cadets placed on the graves.” The boys turned from me to face the Commander and told him “Because the flags were placed wrong so we are moving them so that they are in their proper place.” The Commander looked at the boys and said “Boys, you should never play with the flags that are on the graves, it is disrespectful. The flags are not placed wrong.”

At that point, one of the two boys stated “but Mister the flags were placed wrong because a soldier never turns his back on the flag!” The Commander stood there staring at the boys as if to ask them what they meant by that statement. The boys almost in unison, explained that the flags had been placed behind the headstone instead of in front and that they knew the placement of the flags should be in front of the headstone because “a soldier never turns his back on the flag”, which was why they had so painstaking cleaned the tops of every headstone prior to placing each flag because they wanted to make sure that the soldier buried in that grave could see the flag. The Commander stood there looking at the boys in amazement. At that point, I bent down to the boys to face them at eye level and told them thank you for making sure that we were honoring our veterans properly. Before the boys walked away they made eye contact with the Commander and said to him “thank you for your service”. The Commander smiled at the boys and said the only word he could muster “thank you”.

(This piece was written 9 years ago today. I held onto it in my journal and from time to time I have recalled the story. This story is special to me and has always touched my heart. I do not often share stories of my Cub Scouts but these two were very special to me because one was my son and the other his good friend. Nine years later, my heart is still full of pride for these two guys. One is a “knob” (freshman) at The Citadel and the other a Senior in High School who will be receiving his Eagle Scout soon. When I look at these two guys I still see the same love and respect for our service men and women. I have no doubt that one day they will be doing great things for our nation.)

BOUHAMMER NOTE-This morning, just like the last 11 Veterans Days, the Cub Scouts from this pack are at the same cemetery placing flags at Veteran’s graves. Now it is our youngest son who is walking from stone to stone with his fellow scouts making sure that the Veterans NEVER turn their back on the flag.

Happy Birthday Marine Corps

Bouhammer — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:57:39 +0000

On this day in 1775 in Philadelphia at a place called Tun Tavern, the Marine Corps was born. Samuel Nichols was the founder at the time.

I have never been a Marine but I have stayed in a few Holiday Inn Express hotels and I have many Marine friends besides working with them a lot during my military career.

So to the Corps I say Semper Fi and Happy Birthday!

The Poem that started it all

Bouhammer — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:31:06 +0000

The poem below is what started the whole concept of the Red Poppy as the internationally recognized and accepted symbol of Remembrance Day, which is known as Veterans Day here in the USA.

As Per Wikipedia….

Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day or Veterans Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty since World War I. This day, or alternative dates, are also recognized as special days for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the official end of World War I on that date in 1918; hostilities formally ended “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month” of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice (“at the 11th hour” refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 a.m.)
The day was specifically dedicated by King George V on 7 November 1919 as a day of remembrance of members of the armed forces who were killed during World War I. This was possibly done upon the suggestion of Edward George Honey to Wellesley Tudor Pole, who established two ceremonial periods of remembrance based on events in 1917.[1]
The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem “In Flanders Fields”. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war.

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

For some reason this country does not stop to recognize this importance of Veterans Day like the rest of the world does. In Canada the military members are authorized to wear the red poppy on their uniforms for 30 days. In Great Britain right now, the BBC reporters (yes Journalists) are wearing Red Poppies on air during broadcasts.

Why is our country ashamed to show their pride for the military and veterans? Catholics wear ash on their heads on Ash Wednesday with pride. Americans have no problem wearing flag pins, T-shirts or hats around the 4th of July. Sport fans have hundreds of dollars worth of officially sanctioned merchandise in their closets to put on when their team is playing or in the championship.

Yet it seems like an after-thought or a bother for the 99%. The 99% that have never served or have close family that have or are serving.

Please join me and my good friend Matt Goss in helping inform and educate America. Do your part by swinging by your local American Legion or VFW and picking up one of their red poppies to wear on Friday or even go by a local florist and see if they have any real ones you can wear.

Let America know you are recognizing the importance of the day, what it means and what it is about. Let your friends, family, co-workers and even strangers know what you value in life, its freedoms and in this country. Don’t be shy to explain to someone why you are wearing it and its meaning.

Meet Tyler Southern, Combat Wounded Marine; some assembly required

Bouhammer — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:05:30 +0000

This link to this story was sent to me by a very close friend who works as a trauma nurse in the Military Hospital System. These facts, these faces, and this life is what she lives every day at work and I am sure she lives it at home.

It is a long story, but if you truly care and are concerned about our wounded warriors, you will take the time to read it. I am not a big fan of the Huffington Post, but bravo to them for doing a great job on this story.

They not only tell the story of Tyler but also present a lot of facts about our wounded coming home

About 45,000 American troops in all have been wounded in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan in ways that have been seriously enough to warrant their evacuation to a hospital.

Within that group are roughly 16,500 who have been severely or catastrophically wounded, meaning they have lost the use of at least one limb and have other debilitating injuries.

These include 1,350 amputees and about 6,800 other men and women whose limbs are so mangled that their injuries will “affect their ability to function for the rest of their lives,” said Ficke.

In addition, the Defense Department currently has on its books 310 cases of spinal cord injury, 2,043 troops with deep burns, 130 with the loss of at least one eye, 3,573 with severe penetrating head wounds, and 2,235 with severe traumatic brain injury. More than one fourth of military casualties suffer deep facial wounds. Some of these wounded troops are recorded in two or more categories: It is common, for instance, to see patients with multiple amputations and burns. On average, the wounded are being carried off the battlefield with 4.8 wounds each.

Separately, the Department of Veterans Affairs has on its rolls 6,500 severely wounded veterans under its care. VA officials expect that number to double to 13,000 within four years as the severely wounded retire from active-duty Defense Department care to the VA.

The VA accounts each year for the number of veterans who begin to receive disability payments. New cases of veterans receiving compensation for mental disorders have leaped from 32,838 in 2006 to 60,535 new cases in 2010.

To read all of Tyler story of what happened to him and where he is now, check out:

www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/beyond-the-battlefield-part-1-tyler-southernn999329.html?page=1

Tillman honored in unique way

Bouhammer — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:01:21 +0000

I love Hockey, and I love the US Army and soldiers, so it makes sense why I love this story.

This season, the Phoenix Coyotes backup goalie is using his mask to pay tribute to someone he never met yet holds a great deal of respect for: NFL star turned war hero Pat Tillman.

“To see him, as a professional athlete, stop doing what he had worked his whole life toward to do something he thought was right – join the Army and go over and do what he did – is a pretty amazing thing,” LaBarbera said. “Nobody else can say that. It’s a pretty special thing he did, so this is a representation of what he did and everyone that’s fighting over there.”

I think it is awesome for him to do this as a tribute to the NFL Football player, turned fallen Ranger. To check out a picture of his goalie mask and read the whole story see:

www.military.com/news/article/nhl-goalie-honors-pat-tillman-with-mask.html

SFC Cashe keeps getting slighted

Bouhammer — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:28:25 +0000

I first heard about SFC Cashe and his superbly heroic actions over at Blackfive.net (www.blackfive.net/main/2011/09/sfc-alwyn-c-cashe.html). Lately he has been back in the news as there is finally talk of upgrading his Silver Star to the Medal of Honor. However it seems his name is back int the news for another reason.

Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe was awarded the Silver Star six years ago for running into a burning Bradley multiple times to save his fellow soldiers. Friends and family believe that he deserves the Medal of Honor, and have been pushing for that recognition for years.

But amazingly, as top Army officials consider whether to upgrade that honor, Cashe’s grave site doesn’t even reflect the award he did receive. Instead of the Silver Star, his headstone lists only the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

Read the whole story at www.military.com/news/article/heros-grave-displays-wrong-military-award.html

There is nothing wrong with a Bronze Star as it is a very honorable recognition. However the guy earned a Silver Star (actually I think he deserves the MoH also) and after several years you would think the Army could somehow find the time to fix this and give SFC Cashe’s gravesite the recognition it deserves. How long does it take to do the right thing?

The mistake is just the latest headache for the hero’s family, who have also struggled to get their deceased soldier’s awards records and medical files, as well as reimbursement for some funeral costs.

Does it take a call to a Congressman to start an inquiry? That seems to always get the Army moving. Not that I am saying you should call a Congressman but hey if you happen to have their number on speed dial and have nothing else going on…..

Video portrayal of David Bellavia’s actions in Iraq

Bouhammer — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:33:28 +0000

I found this video today thanks to David himself. I had no idea that someone had created a re-enactment of one of his actions in Iraq in 2004. Not just any action but the one for which he was and still is recommended for the Medal of Honor. David is a friend and I am glad to call him such.

I talked about David’s book, House to House, which has this one incident documented in great detail along with a whole lots more from this tour. You can read that posting at: www.bouhammer.com/2010/09/my-own-return/

Take a minute and listen to David talk about this one particular day as they show the re-enactment and then go check out the book at: www.amazon.com/House-David-Bellavia/dp/1416574719 because you won’t be disappointed in reading it.