Chik-Fil-A employee returns from Iraq with Purple Heart

    It’s late afternoon at Chik-Fil-A and Assistant Manager Paul Bollinger is working hard.  He totals up the cash register, rings up meals, cleans up trash, and ensures that no student has to wait for quality customer service.  There are several other workers there who don’t seem to be doing much of anything, but rather than barking orders or chastising lower level employees, Bollinger calmly takes care of the tasks at hand. 
    The 37-year-old graduate of GCSU recently returned from an 11-month tour of duty with the National Guard’s 48th Brigade in Kuwait and Iraq.
    “Paul was my roommate,” said Mike Haun, Auxiliary Marketing manager for GCSU.  “He used to work at a prison from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., then go to work as the evening manager at Chik-Fil-A from 4 to 11 p.m.  He’s got such a positive outlook on life; I really think he can do anything.”
    Lt. Bollinger’s unit began its tour in Kuwait in May of 2005.  After a long two weeks of training they were shipped off to the Abu Gharib district in Iraq (which has nothing to do with the infamous prison).      His day usually began around 4:30 a.m., and often carried late into the night.  The unit spent their time conducting daily combat patrols, talking to locals, and attempting to dodge enemy rockets and roadside bombs known as IED’s.
    “On July 2, I got my butt kicked,” Bollinger said. 
    While conducting a routine combat patrol, Bollinger was blown off his feet by an IED that was wired to a cell phone detonator.  He suffered a concussion and some ear damage, but refused a MedEvac and stayed in Iraq for nine more months. 
    When he was finally sent back to the states, he had to wait at Ft. Stewart for another five months to see his wife, GCSU Russian professor Anastasia Bollinger, due to a medical hold.  The two were married one week before he was sent to Kuwait. 
    “It was great just getting to know each other again,” Anastasia said.  “It was very hard for me, knowing that he could be in danger, but I am so glad to have him back.”
    When Bollinger isn’t working on campus, he can be found floating around Lake Sinclair on his 15 ft. Spindrift sailboat.
    “Now that I’m back, I just want to slow down, buy a house, have some kids, get a bigger sailboat, and enjoy life,” Bollinger said.  “ I learned not to take anything for granted when I was over there.  It also taught me to look at the bigger picture, whether in combat or the restaurant business.  You have objectives that need to be achieved and you measure your success based on whether or not you achieve them.”
    Bollinger harbors no grudges against the Iraqis and also believes in President George W. Bush’s refusal to withdraw troops. 
    “The Iraqi kids were fabulous and I’ll never forget the way those people acted on election day,” Bollinger said.  “It was just great.  I hate war and so does everyone else in the military, but the fact of the matter is that someone has to do it, and as far as I’m concerned, the U.S. should definitely remain as long as necessary.”
    Bollinger hopes to open his own restaurant sometime in the near future and is currently waiting for his medical papers to clear the Army.  Once the papers go through, he will be awarded a Purple Heart for his service and injuries.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 20 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry