An army marches on its stomach

When TJ Boswell, Troy City councilor and former member of the U.S. Army, was nominated to do 22 pushups a day to raise awareness for the 22 veterans who commit suicide every day, he decided that wasn’t enough.

Instead, he rolled out two homemade smokers in front of the Troy Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5514 on Aug. 23 and smoked more than 108 racks of baby-back ribs for former service members. The ribs were packaged into 100 full meals with a dessert and sides of mac-and-cheese and chili. Each dinner was sponsored by a local business or individual, who paid $22 and selected a veteran to receive the meal.

Boswell, who owns Double Bark BBQ, announced his unique take on the challenge in a Facebook post dated Aug. 2. Businesses, including Troy Automotive Repair and Towing, Montana Kids Sunshine, Inc., and Main Street Perk and Pub, lined up to sponsor meals.

“It kind of took off like wildfire,” he said at the event. “I think in about a week we were up to 100 meals.”

As the project grew, Troy Mayor Dallas Carr offered to make beans for a side dish. Jim and Joyce Schriner pitched in by making mac-and-cheese. Boswell’s wife, Nichole Boswell baked 10 pounds of brownies for the desserts.

To meet the high demand for ribs, Boswell had to upgrade his smoking setup. Putting in about 60 hours of work, he replaced the doors of his original smoker and finished welding together a second one the day before his event.

By 9:30 a.m. on the day of his barbecue, Boswell had stocked his smokers to near capacity. To feed the flames of the two stick burners, he had loaded the bed of a four wheeler parked close by with applewood.

Throughout the day, he and his assistant pitmaster, Scott Hoffman, monitored the temperature of each smoker and periodically rotated the ribs.

“There’s so much in there that it just doesn’t really cook as even,” Boswell said. “I’ve never done that many ribs.”

Despite putting all his efforts into the event, Boswell declined to be sponsored. Hoffman said when he offered to buy Boswell a meal, the veteran pitmaster asked that he sponsor another former service member.

Around 4:45 p.m. the first sponsors and veterans started showing up at the VFW. By then the ribs were crusted with a thin bark and smoked to perfection. Volunteers, including Carr, formed an assembly line and began packing the meat.

The event organizers set up a drive-thru lane on Yaak Avenue in front of the VFW so that those picking up the meals would not have to get out of their cars. Carene Cratty, a member of the VFW auxiliary and owner of True Blue Boutique and Nails, explained that this setup ensured social distancing and prevented the spread of the coronavirus. While a few meal sponsors and veterans picked up meals on foot, none were allowed inside the VFW where the side dishes were packaged.

One former service member who came for a meal, Max Schrader, a 72-year-old Vietnam War veteran, said it felt great to be recognized with the dinner. His daughter, who spent four years in the Navy, sponsored his meal.

As he loaded the dinner into his truck, he noted that it would take him a while to get through the whole thing.

“My wife and I will eat on it a whole week,” he said.