Purple Heart Awarded to Cambus Driver on Snowy Day

The West Campus Transportation Center was inhabited for the very first time this week for a Purple Heart Ceremony, where the medal was awarded to a brave and noble Cambus driver who survived their 8-hour shift on a snowy day. 

Cameron Bussin has been driving for Cambus for a year and a half and told the Doily Allergen he never expected to receive such an honor.

“To be honest, I was planning to quit after my training and just take that huge bonus they advertise on the side of the buses,” Bussin told Doily. “But I wasn’t paying attention when I signed some of the waivers and contracts, and suddenly I was getting scheduled three days a week.”

On the fateful day in question, Iowa City had been hit with several inches of snow, and the sidewalks were barely shoveled off anywhere. Bussin was tasked with transporting an overly full bus of poor Mayflower chumps to their 10:30s on the Pentacrest that they were already late for. 

Bussin remembered feeling his tires slipping as he drove up the hill on Dubuque Street to return to campus. “It was really scary,” he recalled. “I could just feel how pissed everyone would be at me if I couldn’t make it up the hill and made them even later to their classes and jobs.”

Thankfully, Bussin pulled through, and the whole bus erupted into applause. He skidded to a stop in front of the Pentacrest right in time, splashing sleet onto all the mopeds parked nearby—which was deserved, because anyone driving their moped in January deserves to be cold and wet. 

The brave hero continued on his journey, unaware of the greatness he had achieved until he clocked out and was invited to his own ceremony a week later. Barb Wilson herself pinned the Purple Heart onto Bussin’s Cambus sweatshirt, and Bussin’s photo was taken with Herky in full military dress in front of the bus that had survived the snowy day. 

When asked what will change about his life now that he has this new honor, Bussin told Doily, “I hope now nobody that gets on my bus will talk shit about my music choices. And I guess my grandpa and I have something to finally bond over.” He then promptly dropped the Purple Heart, since he was wearing big mittens and couldn’t grab anything properly.

This article is dedicated to all of our brave Cambus drivers. Thank you for your service.