IN MEMORY OF TOBY

Trevis Bachmann was in Thompson Falls visiting his parents, Kent and Carlene, this month. It was the first time he had seen them in five years. But his trip had an important purpose.

It was also the first time Trevis had been back to Montana to visit the grave of his brother Toby, who passed away in 2009 from a massive seizure. Since his brother's death, Trevis has been completing important tasks on Toby's bucket list.

"Toby was my biggest fan," Trevis said of his brother, who would drive from Kansas to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to watch Trevis compete in football and track at Augustana University. Trevis was the youngest of three boys, with Toby the middle child and Bryan the oldest, all born two years apart. They grew up on a farm in Kansas and learned the value of hard work at a young age. Trevis had studied nursing in college and Toby had followed his younger brother into nursing.

When Kent and Carlene retired to Thompson Falls, Toby moved to Ennis, where he was an ER nurse and could be closer to his parents. Trevis said Toby loved the outdoors and hunting and fishing in Montana. "I wasn't that type," Trevis said. He stayed in Kansas, where he worked as an ICU flight nurse.

Toby Bachmann, who died at the age of 35, had always wanted to be in the military. "Toby was so patriotic," Trevis said. "He loved America and veterans the most. They were his favorite patients." Toby also had never seen the ocean. In honor of that, his brother Trevis decided to enlist in the Navy. Trevis had to essentially drop everything from his life in Kansas City, where he worked as an ICU nurse. He also was a successful business owner. He owned three coffee houses and was featured on the cover of CEO magazine. But he thought out his transition to the military. "It was a difficult year," Trevis said. "There were so many changes." His parents connected him with their friend Ruth Cheney, who is a retired Army nurse. Trevis said meeting with Cheney gave him confidence in his decision to join the military.

"I had to go with my gut feeling," Trevis said. "I was listening to myself and to Toby. It felt comfortable." His brother Bryan has served in the Air Force and his dad Kent was in the National Guard, but the military had never been in Trevis's plan.

Trevis spent six years in the Navy. He was deployed for almost three years, traveling to Sicily, Afghanistan and completing missions in Africa. Another item on Toby's bucket list had been riding a motorcycle. Before Trevis was deployed, he learned to ride a motorcycle. "That's all I rode overseas."

Trevis said that he said yes to every opportunity and every deployment in the Navy, because that's what Toby would have done. His job as a medical officer was intense and stressful, but his brother was with him on every mission and every mile he traveled. Coming back from his deployment, Trevis said that it was challenging to fit in. "I did my job in a crazy, crazy environment," he said of his time in the military, but coming back, he says veterans "all feel behind civilians."

Bachmann's 2020 trip to Montana was significant. He said when he returned home to the United States after leaving the military, he knew he had to get settled and get a job before he could come back to Montana and tell his brother that he made it and had completed Toby's bucket list tasks.

"It was a heavy promise," said Trevis, now 44. "It weighed on me that I hadn't been back to visit Toby's grave." Trevis flew from Phoenix, where he now lives and works as a medical device salesman, to Bozeman. He drove to Ennis to visit Toby's grave, had pie and coffee at the local pharmacy, then stopped at the bar at The Sportsman's Lodge for lunch. There he met a few locals and shared his story of why he was in Montana. One of the men at the bar asked to see a picture of Toby. Turns out the man was a former patient of Toby's. Trevis was happy to have made that random stop in Ennis and make that connection to Toby's life there.

From Ennis, Trevis came to Thompson Falls to visit his parents. Last Saturday, his dad said, "let's go to Noxon." Trevis was happy to go on an adventure with his parents. When they got there, they went to Toby's Tavern and Trevis realized the significance of their hour-long drive. Trevis felt his brother with them as they explored Toby's Tavern.

Trevis said he will be back every year to visit Toby's grave in Montana. He wants to learn to fly fish and explore the outdoors of Montana that Toby loved so much. When asked where he calls home, Trevis said anywhere in the U.S. is home. "Coming back from overseas and setting my feet on U.S. ground," was how he felt at home, and he feels that as he travels in his current job. He said after the intensity of his military service, he doesn't let things stress him out anymore. And he feels he kept his promise to Toby. "I feel fulfilled that I honored him."