Work Vessels for Vets & Semper Fi & America’s Fund Join Forces to Equip SSG Steve Rossler, an Injured Texas Veteran and his Top-Rated Barbecue Business.
MAY 2, 2023, Ft Hood area, TEXAS - Today, thanks to a gift of a state-of-the-art smoker from two veteran-serving charities, Army SSG Steve Rossler and his wife Kristen new business, Rossler’s Blue Cord Barbecue are taking their successful business to a new level to meet the great demand for their food in the Fort Hood, Texas region. Work Vessels for Vets, an all-volunteer nonprofit with the mission to equip America’s injured veterans with the tools they need to start a business, and The Semper Fi & America’s Fund pooled their resources to purchase the $14,000 top-rated smoker mounted on a trailer.
Kristen, Paisley, Julianne and I cannot express how grateful we are for both organizations for doing this for us. Sitting on top of a mountain in Wardak Afghanistan, I never would’ve even imagined that my duty to America would ever be rewarded like this,“ says SSG Rossler. “With this second Moberg Smoker, we can double our capacity, going up to 40 briskets and not worry about selling out.”
Rossler’s Blue Cord Barbecue recently received a rave review from the Texas Monthly publication:
“Transitioning from military life to running a barbecue business was a challenge for Steven and Kristen Rossler. In 2021, they opened the Rossler’s Blue Cord Barbecue food truck in Harker Heights, near Fort Hood, where Steven was stationed as an Army staff sergeant…Steven was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor for his actions on the battlefield while deployed in Afghanistan in 2011. To the outside world, he had been rewarded for his bravery, but for Steven, it was a reminder of an awful day on which he survived an IED explosion when three of his fellow soldiers did not. “I went into a burning vehicle multiple times trying to give my guys air,” Steven told me. Enemy rounds struck the vehicle as he tried to free Sergeant First Class Clark Corley, Specialist Ryan Lumley, and Specialist Thomas Mayberry, but they couldn’t escape. Steven recounted that story to me recently, but a few years ago, even his wife didn’t know the details of what he’d witnessed. “I had to step up and be the leader,” Steven said of the attack and its aftermath. He held that attitude for years after. He considered it a show of strength to keep his trauma buried, even if it meant an increasing dependence on alcohol. When he began offering catering services on the side in 2016, it was easier to justify the drinking as a part of barbecue culture. But it wore on him. Finishing a cook early in the morning, taking an hour-long nap, then getting to his unit’s physical training session was rough.”
“Cooking barbecue also became therapeutic for both Steven and Kristen. They put a new focus on excellence, and Steven quit mixing drinking with his work. They paid closer attention to their fire and to the barbecue as it cooked, so as not to waste anything. Today their main business is catering on the weekends. “We’re booked out until next April,” Kristen said, while Steven added, “It’s where the money’s at.” That limits their public food-truck days to just Wednesdays and Thursdays, when they serve in the Smile Doctors Orthodontics parking lot from 11:30 a.m. until they sell out. That schedule can change, so it’s best to double-check their Facebook page before heading out.” [excerpted from Texas Monthly by David Vaughn 11/11/2022]
Rossler’s Blue Cord Barbecue 300 Morgan, Harker Heights Phone: 254-345-2313 Hours: Wednesday–Thursday 11:30–6 (or sold out) Pitmasters: Steven and Kristen Rossler Method: Post oak in an offset smoker Year opened: 2021.
