Meet the troops: Spc. Gary Bough

Spc. Gary Bough

A veteran of Operation Desert Storm, Bough, 32, of Coeur d’Alene, joined the Idaho National Guard’s armory at Post Falls a couple of years ago to work as a recruiter. He wanted some help with college money, he said, and “I missed the military.”

The low-stress “weekend warrior” paradigm is gone now, replaced with potential combat in Iraq. Just two years ago this month, Bough married and he and his wife, Kathryn, have blended a family with three of her children and two of his.

“It’s stressful being away from home. Sometimes it feels like you are out of the loop on the home front,” he said.

Asked if there was a special talisman he was taking to Iraq, Bough gently fished through a recently packed duffel bag. “Here it is,” he said, pulling out a metal picture frame that folded closed like a book. Inside was a picture of Bough and Kathryn on their wedding day. Next to it she wrote a passage about what he brought to her life and what he means to her.

Bough closed it gently and placed it carefully back with his gear.