Throughout Timothy Kramer’s time in the military, the Bayard man witnessed several historical events.
In February 2001, he had recently become a father and needed job security.
“The military seemed like a good family decision,” he said.
He went to a recruiter for the U.S. Army and left for boot camp 12 days later.
“What an experience that was,” he said. “I was a pretty tough kid and I had common sense in me, but boot camp was something else.”
Kramer graduated from boot camp in August 2001. He was stationed at the base then known as Fort Myer, right next to Arlington National Cemetery.
Kramer said he was just a quarter mile from the Pentagon when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into it on 9/11.
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“It blew my head gear off it was so low,” he recalled.
Though his house was just across the freeway, he says he couldn’t go home for weeks as the area was secured during an investigation. These were his first months in the Army, and he hadn’t even served a tour of duty yet.
Ultimately, Kramer served two tours overseas with the 58th Military Police Company, 25th Infantry Division. He was deployed to Iraq from January 2004 to February 2005 and again from January 2006 to March 2007.
“The first tour was going around and … basically getting all the turmoil out of town,” he said.
Setting up curfews played a big part in that, with Kramer claiming “99% of the people after dark were the bad guys.”
His second tour of duty involved conducting detainee operations. He’d be assigned to high value targets and move them between prisons. Kramer said he guarded Saddam Hussein for eight months and was part of the group who escorted him to his court trials and execution in December 2006.
On Aug. 6, 2006, Kramer suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was wounded in action. His vehicle drove over an improvised explosive device.
“What I remember is we were on a mission taking some detainees, I think to Abu Ghraib prison east of Baghdad,” he said. “The only thing I remember is a car on the side of the road and then a big flash of light. Then I woke up in a medic’s tent. That was it.”
Despite his injuries, Kramer returned to active service and finished his tour of duty. He left the Army having risen to the rank of staff sergeant. However, when he experienced a stroke in 2009, he became paralyzed on his left side and it required months of physical therapy and rehabilitation. Kramer now has to use a wheelchair, but he doesn’t let it slow him down.
“I think attitude is half the battle,” he said. “If you keep a positive attitude, you’ll get through just about anything in life.”
Kramer is having a custom-made house built for him near Minatare through the Homes for Our Troops initiative. He also received a Quilt of Valor earlier this year.
Veterans Day should be a time for people to reflect and to thank those who’ve protected their freedom, Kramer said.
“There’s no country better than this one, I can tell you that, and I’ve been to a few,” he said.
As a veteran, he said he’s received plenty of support. There’s a sense of pride in serving. Kramer said he’d definitely do it again if he could.
“I did something bigger than myself,” he said. “I lived for something more.”