1st Lt. Todd Hamski (right) with two members of his unit in Iraq.

Lower Makefield Twp. police officer provided protection
for Iraqi judges, earning a Bronze Star for his service.

By Matthew Fleishman
BucksLocalNews.com Editor

Last July, Todd Hamski called it a shock when he was called up from the reserves and told to head to Fort Indiantown Gap for a medical evaluation, despite having already served in Egypt as security for NATO Forces, and serving on Border Patrol in New Mexico.

Hamski, a 1st Lieutenant with the 28th MP Company of the Pennsylvania National Guard, was called into service after a lieutenant who was scheduled for deployment developed cancer.

“They called me out of the blue and said ‘get your stuff ready,’” said Hamski.

Hamski was the second Lower Makefield Township police officer to serve in Iraq since the war began in 2003. Officer Tim Reeves was the first.

After being called up, Hamski spent less than three months at Fort Dix, before being sent to Baghdad, Iraq, where Hamski worked on a protective service detail providing protection for Iraqi judges, and for his service, he was awarded a Bronze Star.

“They are just starting to get their court system up and running, so naturally, the judges are targets,” said Hamski.

Hamski said that not only protecting himself, but also having to protect the life of another individual was a very stressful way to serve his tour of duty in Iraq.

“I was always on edge over there,” said Hamski. “It’s very stressful, and it will wear you down really quick. It’s hard because you have to keep from falling into a patter, because that is when you get into trouble. The people we are fighting are really smart.”

In addition to protecting Iraqi judges and officials, Hamski also helped train Iraqis to work in protection details.

“They take a real pride in what they do,” said Hamski. “Have a job like that is really high in their culture.”

While in Iraq, Hamski fought off homesickness by staying in touch with his fellow police officers through e-mail and using phone cards that they collected and shipped to him.

“I would call the department just to say ‘hi’ to everyone,” said Hamski. “I would even go on the Web site to read the police blotter just to see what was going on.”

Despite the current picture being painted by the numerous cable news media outlets, Hamski says the climate in Iraq is certainly changing for the better, but that “it is going to take some time.”

“We are really making a difference over there,” said Hamski. My friends who served over there before me would say that you couldn’t go down certain roads, but now we can travel down those roads.”

While the Army, as a whole, is making a difference in terms of the safety of the country, Hamski said that the individual soldiers are making a difference in the lives of the children in Iraq.

“Kids come up to you and if you hand them a stick of gum, they look at you like you gave them the greatest thing ever,” said Hamski. “You certainly don’t take things for granted anymore because those kids over there have nothing.”

Hamski’s tour of duty was cut short after six months because what was a supposed to be a trickle of new reserves heading to Iraq turned into a entire group of soldiers coming over all at once.

Upon his return to the Lower Makefield Police Department, Hamski presented the Lower Makefield Township Board of Supervisors with a flag that flew over Operating Base Grizzly in Iraq.

While serving in Iraq changed his life, Hamski came back from his tour of duty and made another life-changing decision, proposing to his girlfriend, Colleen.

Labels: Iraq, Lower Makefield, National Guard