John Barrasso: Thanksgiving with Pistol Pete in Kosovo

Statement

A year ago, he was Pistol Pete at the University of Wyoming. Today, he's wearing the uniform of the Wyoming Army National Guard, and stationed in Kosovo. His name is Gregory Burke -- and I had the privilege of sharing Thanksgiving with him and two dozen members of our Wyoming Guard recently deployed to Camp Bondsteel.

They are members of the Detachment Three, B Company, 777th Aviation Support Battalion. They come from Park, Sheridan, Goshen, Platte, Albany, Laramie and Sweetwater Counties.

After leaving Cheyenne in September, they underwent training in Indiana and Germany. For the next nine months, they will provide helicopter support and maintenance for 1-112th Aviation Regiment. For some it's their first deployment overseas. For Joseph Stanfill, it's his fourth. I am so proud of their service and sacrifice.

Thanksgiving dinner in Kosovo reminded us of Wyoming -- except it was served by two generals in a mess hall to nearly a thousand soldiers and staff personnel. We enjoyed turkey and stuffing, salads, cranberries and a table full of desserts.

Captain Javier Lopez is Wyoming's commander. His football field-sized workshop holds three helicopters and is decorated in Wyoming flags and Wyoming Highway Department signs. The overall camp commander is from New Mexico. Every Wyoming soldier is well aware that the Pokes beat his Lobos and are bowl-eligible.

Many of the soldiers serving in Kosovo have benefited from the Hathaway scholarship. Kimberly Cordova of Laramie, the only woman in the Wyoming deployment, studied at the University of Wyoming. With today's technology, Kimberly is able to talk to her mother, a cross-country truck driver, almost every day. Support from their families makes all the difference.

Of course, the soldiers wanted to talk about home. The camp has many of the amenities of home -- computers, exercise equipment and big-screen TVs. But it is not home. It is cold, damp and overcast. It will be that way for the next four months.

For most, the biggest regret was missing out on their fall hunt. We talked about the Wyoming weather, the Pokes and wolves.

They also asked about jobs for when they get home. Fortunately, our state has low unemployment and one of the highest per-capita incomes in the country. I am so grateful that our men and women abroad look forward to returning to Wyoming. They value our quality of life and our state's strong support for our 55,000 veterans.

Many of the Wyoming soldiers come from families with a strong tradition of military service. They are loyal, patriotic and fiercely proud to be from Wyoming. Across our state, we regularly witness wonderful participation at deployment ceremonies and welcome home celebrations. You see it at the send-off for our Honor Flights for World War II Veterans and in every Wyoming community on Veterans Day and Memorial Day. The people of Wyoming know that freedom is not free.

Pistol Pete and his 23 Wyoming Guardsmen are now eight time zones away. They ate their Thanksgiving dinner while most people in Wyoming were still asleep. As we take time to count our blessings this season, please remember the members of Detachment Three, B Company, 777th Aviation Support Battalion stationed at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo. They make us proud.

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