Sergeant Bozik Update

Global Voices

Strangers in a Strange Land

Here's an update on Sergeant Joseph Bozik who you have helped tremendously through prayers and substantial donations (you people ROCK!!!). I'll place some recent pictures associated with the emails below in the Extended Section (you can click on the thumbnails for larger images).

Joey is having a rest from surgery this week. He will go to casting on Tuesday and also the hand doctor will remove 3 pins from his left hand. The other pins and metal plates will be removed surgically. He is still running fever, 101.8 this a.m. It seems to fluctuate so keep praying about this acinedobacter, bacteria the soldiers are bringing back from Iraq in their wounds. It is resistant to antibiotics. This morning was a setback as he was overmedicated with morphine and had to be reversed with versaid (sp.) I stay by his side so that these mistakes can be caught right away.

Joey is placed in an electronic wheel chair and taken to occupational therapy. Yesterday, a demonstration for voice acitvation for electronic devices, such as tv, lights, etc. was done for Joey and hopefully he will have this help in his room and his residence if it gets approved financially by the government.

Joey is still his wonderful, sweet self with a big smile. He keeps me upbeat and everyone around him. Keep praying and helping us through these months.

Love,

Gail and Joey

Purple Heart Pinning on Dec. 5th by Gen. McNeill (Joey guarded him in Afghanistan for 7 months before going to Iraq.

And here's another update from a few hours ago:

Thought you might want to see this upclose pic of Joey and his Purple Heart. His commander emailed me yesterday to say that he has requested another award called the Bronze Star. I hope Joey can receive it too. I'll keep you posted.

The doctors are still trying to regulate his pain medicine this week. His blood count is 8.7 so he is feeling a little tired. He goes to casting on Tuesday to remove the cast to check his left stump. Pray all will look well and they don't have to open it again for that bacteria and that the skin graft is ok. Also on Tues. they will remove 3 pins from left hand.

Monday, MSNBC, Chris Matthews with Hardball is suppose to interview Joey. If this happens, it will air on Wed. night I think. You can double check this as I may have it all wrong. Also, MTV called Joey and talked for long time. The interviewer is presenting Joey's life story to his bosses to see if MTV wants to do an documentary on him. I'll let you know if this is successful. Also, CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) wants to interview Joey. Pray about all this. I want God to receive the praise and glory. Joey was in his coma upon arriving from Germany and on the 3rd day he opened his eyes and said, "Dad, come here Dad, this is my calling". He laid back down and closed his eyes. He was still in the coma for several day. Later, we asked Joey if he knew anything and he said no. We are taking this as comfort that his life is in God's hands and that his deceased Dad of 24 yrs. visited us through Joey to comfort us. May God Bless all you good people.

Keep praying for us.

Love,

Gail and Joey Bozik

One last thing, Sergeant Bozik is going to marry his fiance on December 31st in a brief ceremony (they'll do the whole wedding/party thing later). Any ideas on what we should do? Start a registry or just donate?

The last update for Sergeant Bozik is here. Pictures are below.

Above: General McNeil pins Purple Heart on Sergeant Bozik

Below: Wounded hero, Sergeant Joseph Bozik

Posted by Blackfive on Saturday, December 11, 2004 at 10:29 PM in Military | Permalink | Comments (12)

Comments

Joey is having a rest from surgery this week. He will go to casting on Tuesday and also the hand doctor will remove 3 pins from his left hand. The other pins and metal plates will be removed surgically. He is still running fever, 101.8 this a.m. It seems to fluctuate so keep praying about this acinedobacter, bacteria the soldiers are bringing back from Iraq in their wounds. It is resistant to antibiotics. This morning was a setback as he was overmedicated with morphine and had to be reversed with versaid (sp.) I stay by his side so that these mistakes can be caught right away.

Joey is placed in an electronic wheel chair and taken to occupational therapy. Yesterday, a demonstration for voice acitvation for electronic devices, such as tv, lights, etc. was done for Joey and hopefully he will have this help in his room and his residence if it gets approved financially by the government.

Joey is still his wonderful, sweet self with a big smile. He keeps me upbeat and everyone around him. Keep praying and helping us through these months.

Love,

Gail and Joey

Purple Heart Pinning on Dec. 5th by Gen. McNeill (Joey guarded him in Afghanistan for 7 months before going to Iraq.

And here's another update from a few hours ago:

Thought you might want to see this upclose pic of Joey and his Purple Heart. His commander emailed me yesterday to say that he has requested another award called the Bronze Star. I hope Joey can receive it too. I'll keep you posted.

The doctors are still trying to regulate his pain medicine this week. His blood count is 8.7 so he is feeling a little tired. He goes to casting on Tuesday to remove the cast to check his left stump. Pray all will look well and they don't have to open it again for that bacteria and that the skin graft is ok. Also on Tues. they will remove 3 pins from left hand.

Monday, MSNBC, Chris Matthews with Hardball is suppose to interview Joey. If this happens, it will air on Wed. night I think. You can double check this as I may have it all wrong. Also, MTV called Joey and talked for long time. The interviewer is presenting Joey's life story to his bosses to see if MTV wants to do an documentary on him. I'll let you know if this is successful. Also, CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) wants to interview Joey. Pray about all this. I want God to receive the praise and glory. Joey was in his coma upon arriving from Germany and on the 3rd day he opened his eyes and said, "Dad, come here Dad, this is my calling". He laid back down and closed his eyes. He was still in the coma for several day. Later, we asked Joey if he knew anything and he said no. We are taking this as comfort that his life is in God's hands and that his deceased Dad of 24 yrs. visited us through Joey to comfort us. May God Bless all you good people.

Keep praying for us.

Love,

Gail and Joey Bozik

The last update for Sergeant Bozik is here. Pictures are below.

Someone You Should Know

Busting Their Chops!

Search

The Authors

Blackfive
Former Paratrooper and Army Officer, "Blackfive" started this blog upon learning of the valorous sacrifice of a friend that was not reported by the journalist whose life he saved.
Email: blackfive AT gmail DOT com
Jim Hanson
Retired Special Operations Master Sergeant, Jim Hanson ("Uncle Jimbo") is now focused on writing about the military, politics, intelligence operations and foreign policy.
Email: jimbo AT unclejimbo DOT com
The Laughing Wolf
Writer, photographer, and raconteur C. Blake Powers is the Laughing Wolf. He is independent in politics and covers topics including journalism, military, weapons, preparedness, space, science, cooking, food and wine, product and book reviews, and even spirituality.
Email: wolf1 AT laughingwolf DOT net
Laughing Wolf's Amazon Wish List
Grim Beorn
Grim -- an Old Norse name that means 'one who wears a mask' -- blogs on issues of intelligence, information operations, and foreign relations.
Email: grimbeornr AT yahoo DOT com
Pinch Paisley
Instapinch Bill Paisley, otherwise known as Pinch, is a 22 year (ongoing) active and reserve naval aviator. He blogs over at www.instapinch.com on a veritable cornucopia of various and sundry items and will bring a tactical naval aviator's perspective to Blackfive. Readers be warned: any comments of or about the F-14 Tomcat will be reverential and spoken in low, hushed tones.
Email: wpaisley AT comcast DOT net
Mr. Wolf
Mr. Wolf has over 26 years in the Army, Army NG, and USAR. He’s Airborne with 5 years as an NCO, before becoming an officer. Mr. Wolf has had 4 company commands. Signal Corp is his basic branch, and Public Affairs is his functional area. He recently served 22 straight months in Kuwait and Iraq, in Intel, PA, and senior staff of MNF-I. Mr. Wolf is now an IT executive. He is currently working on a book on media and the Iraq war. Functional gearhead.

In Iraq, he received the moniker of Mr. Wolf after the Harvey Kietel character in Pulp Fiction, when "challenges" arose, they called on Mr. Wolf...
Email: TheDOTMrDOTWolfAT gmail DOT com
Deebow
Deebow is a Staff Sergeant and a Military Police Squad Leader in the Army National Guard. In a previous life, he served in the US Navy. He has over 19 years of experience in both the Maritime and Land Warfare; including deployments to Southwest Asia, Thailand, the South Pacific, South America and Egypt. He has served as a Military Police Team Leader and Protective Services Team Leader and he has served on assignments with the US State Department, US Air Force Security Police, US Army Criminal Investigation Division, and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He recently spent time in Afghanistan working with, training and fighting alongside Afghan Soldiers and is now focused on putting his 4 year Political Science degree to work by writing about foreign policy, military security policy and politics.
McQ
McQ has 28 years active and reserve service. Retired. Infantry officer. Airborne and Ranger. Consider my 3 years with the 82nd as the most fun I ever had with my clothes on. Interests include military issues and policy and veteran's affairs.
Email: mcq51 -at - bellsouth -dot- net
Crush

Chris Carter is a former USAF firefighter and now civilian firefighter who covers military history, national security, and baseball. Find out more at his website.

Twitter: @CrushingChris
EMAIL: crushnik AT yahoo DOT com
Tantor

Tantor is a former USAF navigator/weapon system officer (WSO) in F-4E Phantoms who served in the US, Asia, and Europe. He is now a curmudgeonly computer geek in Washington, DC, picking the taxpayers pocket. His avocations are current events, aviation, history, and conservative politics.
Long Tab Sig O
Twenty-three years of Active and Reserve service in the US Army in SF (18B), Infantry and SOF Signal jobs with operational deployments to Bosnia and Africa. Since retiring he's worked as Senior Defense Analyst on SOF and Irregular Warfare projects and currently ensconced in the emerging world of Cyberspace.

The Authors Emeritus

Major Pain
Major Pain -- A Marine who began his blog in Iraq and reflects back on what he learned there and in Afghanistan. To the point opinions, ideas and thoughts on military, political and the media from One Marine’s View.
Email: onemarinesview AT yahoo DOT com
Froggy
Froggy is 21 year Navy SEAL corpsman and vet of the War on Terror. Follow Froggy on Twitter @FroggyRuminates
Driven
"Driven" is an OIF vet, Sergeant and team Leader in the 82nd Airborne Division...
Uber Pig
Uber Pig was an Infantryman from late 1991 until early 1996, serving with Second Ranger Battalion, I Corps, and then 25th Infantry Division. At the time, the Army discriminated against enlisted soldiers who wanted use the "Green to Gold" program to become officers, so he left to attend Stanford University. There, he became expert in detecting, avoiding, and surviving L-shaped ambushes, before dropping out to be as entrepreneurial as he could be. He is now the founder of a software startup serving the insurance and construction industries, and splits time between Lake Tahoe, Boonville, and San Francisco, CA.

Uber Pig writes for Blackfive a) because he's the proud brother of an enlisted Civil Affairs Reservist who currently serves in Iraq, b) because he looks unkindly on people who make it harder for the military in general, and for his brother in particular, to succeed at their missions and come home in victory, and c) because the Blackfive readers and commenters help keep him sane.

Email: enlisted swine (at) gmail (dot) com.
COB6
COB6 spent 24 years in the active duty Army that included 5 combat tours with service in the 1st Ranger Battalion and 1st Special Forces Group . COB6 was enlisted (E-7) and took the OCS route to a commission. COB6 retired a few years back as a field grade Infantry officer. Currently COB6 has a son in the 82nd Airborne that just returned from his third tour and has a newly commissioned daughter in the 4th Infantry Division.
Subsunk
Subsunk is a retired US Navy Submarine Officer.