(http://www.owentemple.com/) out there, one Owen Temple. I have been through some trying times in my life, and I can honestly say that Owen's music has kept me company on many a night, even when there wasn't ample electricty for hundreds of miles. I sang his songs in Camp Udairi, Kuwait waiting for a Blackhawk to fly me across the berm in our invasion of Iraq in 2003...I sang his songs in Karbala on April 5, 2003 when the Widowmakers exchanged punches for the better part of 10 hours with the Fedayeen Freedom Fighters...I sang his songs in Ranger School in 2004 when I was hallucinating so badly that I thought for a couple brief moments that I was Owen Temple, until the ever friendly Ranger Instructor brought me back to reality. I have enjoyed his music for quite awhile, and it did not surprise me that he is an awesome singer/songwriter that genuinely cares about this Nation's wounded heroes.
Just to fill ya in on how this all transpired, I'll go back a few days. I recently learned that one of my best friends in the whole wide world, CPT Jimmy Howell, is going to be awarded the Macarthur Leadership Award (http://www.armyg1.army.mil/macarthur/) at the Pentagon on May 8, 2009. They don't draw your name out of a hat for this award, people, I assure you. You have to be one of this Country's top tier junior military leaders to even be considered for such prestigious recognition. As I sat outside my home in Katy, Texas last Thursday night enjoying a nice cigar and a cold Guinness, I started thinking about Jimmy and how he and I first met on that day in 1997 in the Jefferson County Airport enroute to the United States Military Academy Preparatory School. Turns out, he and I were roommates at the Prep School for awhile and we became very good friends over the years. Homemade wine in the Burger King parking lot, sitting on the roof of Bradley Barracks playing guitar, Sharky's...just a few good times between Jimmy and I...
Jimmy has and always will be a brother to me, and to anyone who has watched the NBC Evening News of late, they have more than likely seen footage of Richard Engel as he has tromped around the treacherous terrain in Eastern Afghanistan shadowing a courageous and battle tested U.S. Army Infantry unit. Those young men you see there on the television screen are Jimmy's boys, the men of Bravo Company, settled deep inside the Korengal Valley as they battle every day with an enemy that is determined as ever.
I was sitting there thinking of those fellas and began contemplating what I have done with my professional life lately. I thought about the actions that I have embarked upon in order to actually increase the quality of life for my children, my wife, my friends, and the others that I care deeply about. I have taken on this "burden" as others have called it, to raise as much money as I can for the Wounded Warrior Project. I've entered one big race thus far and plan to enter a few more, of course, but I felt I was missing something. I felt that I was missing an opportunity of some sort that I had no idea was out there. And then, as just about every other American is doing these days, I checked my Facebook account via my Blackberry. Nothing big going on, it appeared, but then I started roaming through statuses, and then it hit me. It was a shot in the dark, but why not. I pulled up Owen's name and sent him a brief note asking him if he would be interested in helping me raise funds for the Wounded Warrior Project. Before I went back inside, I had the reply from Owen: absolutely!
So, today I called Owen up and we talked for about 30 minutes about how we could go about raising some funds. I am heading out to the Armadillo Palace (http://www.thearmadillopalace.com/events.aspx?id=1212) this Thursday night, with my wife if I can convince her to go honky tonkin' with me, to see Owen perform. Owen has kindly offered to donate some autographed items that can be auctioned off for the benefit of the Wounded Warrior Project. He has also agreed to pass my website on to others that he comes in contact with in an effort to gain more exposure. In addition, Owen mentioned something that sounds very worthwhile. Whenever the calendar permits for Owen, he has offered to have a house concert where he will bring his acoustic guitar and play for about an hour at my home or a home of a neighbor in order to raise funds and awareness. What a good person, folks. Owen has tour dates in New York, New Jersey, Maine, Wisconsin, and numerous other places in this wonderful country of ours, but he has offered to stop on by the Bartels Home and play a few tunes for a very good cause. Doesn't get much more American than that if ya' ask me.
Folks, after you donate a couple dollars to the Wounded Warrior Project, visit Owen's website and pick up a CD, you won't be disappointed. It's my opinion that it's some of the best music out there, and his CDs have been to Baghdad and back via my Army issued assault pack. I might have ran out of water or ammo, but I never ran out of Owen. That's it for today folks, thanks for reading, and thanks to Owen for helping out!
