FORNEY, Texas — An Iraq War veteran is fighting a new battle at home having been burglarized three times in just a couple of months — losing his prized and therapeutic golf clubs, among other things.
FORNEY, Texas — An Iraq War veteran is fighting a new battle at home having been burglarized three times in just a couple of months — losing his prized and therapeutic golf clubs, among other things.
The clubs, described as Callaway XR’s, were allegedly stolen from the garage of Army Sergeant Kevin Bowden, a disabled Iraq War veteran, Tuesday night around 3:30 a.m.
Bowden says this is the third time, since February, his garage has been broken in to and the second time his golf clubs have been stolen.
The clubs provide a sense of security, a “grounding” tool, for the veteran who was injured in a roadside bomb in Iraq and suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) — playing golf with other wounded warriors on their path to recovery.
Ironically, Bowden says he is typically in the garage around the time of the burglary, checking and securing his family’s home. “Last night was one of the rare nights I actually slept for more that a couple hours,” he said.
“The knowledge that this person was in my house while my wife, two young boys, and I were sleeping is completely unnerving,” he said. “I feel like I failed to protect my family.”
Bowden says the clubs were gifts to him for therapy and back injuries and the latest set was gifted to him on Fathers’ Day.
In addition to the clubs, power tools and other miscellaneous items were stolen. Bowden says if the clubs are returned, he won’t press charges. However, if information is provided that leads to the arrest of the individual, Bowden says he will offer a $250 reward.
In July 2012, Bowden and his family were presented a home in the Diamond Creek neighborhood of Forney through a partnership with Bank of America and Military Warriors Support Foundation, a story inForney.com covered at the time. Bowden served two tours in Iraq before sustaining a traumatic brain injury in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq in April 2008.
If you have any information about the man pictured in the surveillance video, contact the Forney Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division at (972) 564-7607.
