Bucanero Cigars receives many emails each day. As the President I try to review every one of them and respond accordingly. I make it a priority in life to thank all of the people who send emails about enjoying a Bucanero.
They are the reason why our passion burns so strong in this business and their acknowledgments continue to feed that fire everyday.
But sometimes as is in life something very special comes my way and it makes me simply stop and take a moment to reflect what life is truly about. These are the special moments in life that truly define one's character. My Father and my Uncles (4) all served in W.W.II. I and many of my friends did the same during the Vietnam era. I can remember as a young man what it was like being away from home in a distant land. Missing my girl  and my family and friends. Hoping one day to get back home.

So this is special it touches my heart and it brings back many memories, the good and the bad.
But one thing we all must remember, free of all the politics what these young men and women are doing for our country. Freedom comes with a price. For those who are paying this price we all should honor them with the utmost honor..our respect and gratitude!

God Bless you all,
Robert Spoden
President
Bucanero Cigars

 

An email from Eric in Iraq:

" If you do not mind, let me tell the path your wonderful cigars took to get here. The story starts with our job here.  Manny and I work at a combat trauma hospital just north of Baghdad.  We are pretty busy at times, and we unfortunately see the cost of war in the denomination of lives-young lives.  Well, to help us unwind, we have sort of started a little tradition.  Manny, myself and a few of the other surgeons will go on top of the “swamp” (named after the MASH series), a small building next to the hospital.  There is a great view from there at sunset.  There, we will enjoy some good stories, and best of all, some fine cigars.  It is pretty much the only treat we have out here, so that time is sacred.  We will sometimes talk of the events of that day, but quickly we turn to more pleasant thoughts such as our families or the qualities of the particular cigar we are smoking.  In the background, helicopters will be occasionally landing.  As the sun sets we always take to looking at the stars.  It is hard to describe it, but for lack of a better way, it is an escape from where we are at and what we are doing.

Well, a few weeks ago, my uncle, who is also a vet, asked me if I needed anything.  He knew of our swamp/cigar tradition and asked me what cigars to send.  He knew that we were sometimes getting our hands on some Havana's, so he wanted to make sure he sent some cigars that would stand up to them. I told him to go to his local tobacco shop and get the best cigars they had.  Well, he sent out about 20 or so cigars-some Santa Damiana’s, Dunhill’s, etc…They were all in one bag, except for 2 “special” ones.  The local tobacconist put these in their own bag with a small note, “93 rating, best in the shop, hard to get”.  Well, you guessed it, Bucanero Salsa.

So, that is the story.  It just makes it all the more special that you are a vet.  It just seems to complete the story.

Well, thanks again for making some great cigars, and thanks in advance for sending us the ambassador package.  Thanks even more, though, for your service to our country.  It is stories like this that make me proud of what we are doing over here-and makes it all worth it, and thanks for that".

Yours,
Eric
 
 

 

SEMPER FI
One hell of a man.
We are proud to post this story.

Leading the fight is Gunnery Sgt. Michael Burghardt, known as 'Iron Mike' or just 'Gunny'. He is on his third tour in Iraq He had become a legend in the bomb disposal world after winning the Bronze Star for disabling 64 IEDs and destroying 1,548 pieces of ordnance during his second tour. Then, on September 19, he got blown up. He had arrived at a chaotic scene after a bomb had killed four US soldiers. He chose not to wear the bulky bomb protection suit. 'You can't react to any sniper fire and you get tunnel-vision,' he explains. So, protected by just a helmet and standard-issue flak jacket, he began what bomb disposal officers term 'the longest walk', stepping gingerly into a 5ft deep and 8ft wide crater.

The earth shifted slightly and he saw a Senao base station with a wire leading from it. He cut the wire and used his 7 in. knife to probe the ground. 'I found a piece of red detonating cord between my legs,' he says. 'That's when I knew I was screwed.'

Realizing he had been sucked into a trap, Sgt. Burghardt, 35, yelled at everyone to stay back. At that moment, an insurgent, probably watching through binoculars, pressed a button on his mobile phone to detonate the secondary device below the sergeant's feet 'A chill went up the back of my neck and then the bomb exploded,' he recalls. 'As I was in the air I remember thinking, 'I don't believe they got me.' I was just ticked off they were able to do it. Then I was lying on the road, not able to feel anything from the waist down.'

His colleagues cut off his trousers to see how badly he was hurt. None could d believe his legs were still there. 'My dad's a Vietnam vet who's paralyzed from the waist down,' says Sgt. Burghardt. 'I was lying there thinking I didn't want to be in a wheelchair next to my dad and for him to see me like that. They started to cut away my pants and I felt a real sharp pain and blood trickling down. Then I wiggled my toes and I thought, 'Good, I'm in business.' 'As a stretcher was brought over, adrenaline and anger kicked in. 'I decided to walk to the helicopter. I wasn't going to let my team-mates see me being carried away on a stretcher.' He stood and gave the insurgents who had blown him up a one-fingered salute. 'I flipped them one. It was like, 'OK, I lost that round but I'll be back next week'.'

Copies of a photograph depicting his defiance, taken by Jeff Bundy for the Omaha World-Herald, adorn the walls of homes across America and that of Col John Gronski, the brigade commander in Ramadi, who has hailed the image as an exemplar of the warrior spirit. Sgt Burghardt's injuries - burns and wounds to his legs and buttocks - kept him off duty for nearly a month and could have earned him a ticket home. But, like his father - who was awarded a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action in Vietnam - he stayed in Ramadi to engage in the battle against insurgents who are forever coming up with more ingenious ways of killing Americans.

 
 

My dear friend Captain Pete.
Southwest Afghanistan
Civil Engineering
Building Schools for the people in this region.
Due home (Tampa Florida) February 2008
1 - Tour in Iraq and 1 - Tour in Afghanistan
U.S. Army
 

God Bless them all.