"That's when I knew I was screwed"

[CarolinaTiger 0]

Hi all: I received the message below from a former student of mine who is currently in Iraq working with teams charged w/ dismantling the IEDs. He shares his stories from time to time, and I thought you may enjoy reading this one.

The photograph is a tad graphic, but a true one nonetheless.

The Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant in the picture is Michael Burghard, part

of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team that is supporting 2nd Brigade

28th Infantry Division (Pennsylvania Army National Guard). I heard the below

story first hand last Saturday during a video teleconference between his

Brigade Commander and the 28th Infantry Division Commander.  I thought that

others should hear it as well, as I think it demonstrates the true spirit of

most of our troops on the ground (from my experience).

John

Leading the fight is Gunnery Sgt Michael Burghardt, known as "Iron Mike" or

just "Gunny". He is on his third tour in Iraq. He had become a legend in the

bomb disposal world after winning t! he Bronze Star for disabling 64 IEDs

and destroying 1,548 pieces of ordnance during his second tour. Then, on

September 19, he got blown up. He had arrived at a chaotic scene after a

bomb had killed four US soldiers. He chose not to wear the bulky bomb

protection suit. "You can't react to any sniper fire and you get

tunnel-vision," he explains. So, protected by just a helmet and

standard-issue flak jacket, he began what bomb disposal officers term "the

longest walk", stepping gingerly into a 5ft deep and 8ft wide crater. The

earth shifted slightly and he saw a Senao base station with a wire leading

from it. He cut the wire and used his 7in knife to probe the ground. "I

found a piece of red detonating cord between my legs," he says. "That's when

I knew I was screwed."

Realizing he had been sucked into a trap, Sgt Burghardt, 35, yelled at

everyone to stay back. At that moment, an insurgent, probably watching

through binoculars, pressed a button on his mobile phone to detonate the

secondary device below the sergeant's feet. "A chill went up the back of my

neck and then the bomb exploded," he recalls. "As I was in the air I

remember thinking, 'I don't believe they got me.' I was just ticked off they

were able to do it. Then I was lying on the road, not able to feel anything

from the waist down."

His colleagues cut off his trousers to see how badly he was hurt. None could

believe his legs were still there. "My dad's a Vietnam vet who's paralyzed

from the waist down," says Sgt Burghardt. "I was lying there thinking I

didn't want to be in a wheelchair next to my dad and for him to see me like

that. They started to cut away my pants and I felt a real sharp pain and

blood trickling down. Then I wiggled my toes and I thought, 'Good, I'm in

business.'  As a stretcher was brought over, adrenaline and anger kicked in.

"I decided to walk to the helicopter. I wasn't going to let my team-mates

see me being carried away on a stretcher." He stood and gave the insurgents

who had blown him up a one-fingered salute. "I flipped them one. It was

like, 'OK, I lost that round but I'll be back next week'."

Copies of a photograph depicting his defiance, taken by Jeff Bundy for the

Omaha World-Herald, adorn the walls of homes across America and that of Col

John Gronski, the brigade commander in Ramadi, who has hailed the image as

an exemplar of the warrior spirit. Sgt Burghardt's injuries - burns and

wounds to his legs and buttocks - kept him off duty for nearly a month and

could have earned him a ticket home. But, like his father - who was awarded

a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action in Vietnam

- he stayed in Ramadi to engage in the battle against insurgents who are

forever coming up wit! h more ingenious ways of killing Americans.

i'll try to figure out how to post the picture....

[CarolinaTiger 0]

n/m

[Tiger in Spain 0]

CT, this is a great story. The Stars and Stripes newspaper ran this last week over here in Europe. I really loved the gesture he had in the picture.

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

Awesome story.

[Tigermike 3,050]

Great story! Great men and women serving over there!

[AURaptor 1,126]

That mate is tough as nails. And a hell of an attitude to go with. Thanks for the story, hope he gets home safe and soon.

[Jenny AU-92 0]

I'll bet there is a little steaming pile of crap where that insurgent was after he saw that Marine get blown up and then stand up and tell him to go F himself. If you are an insurgent, the only thing worse than a Marine is a pissed off Marine with you in his gun sights. Betcha he ran back to his death dealing coward friends, babbling incoherently, that the Marines are invincible. F'ker.

[Jenny AU-92 0]

Just on a whim, I did a search on this Marine: found this update...

Link-A-Doo

RAMADI, Iraq - The sight of Marine Gunnery Sgt. Michael Burghardt scrambling and poking through a dirt mound searching for explosives drew smiles Tuesday from Sgt. Joe Dunlap of Lincoln and other Nebraska Army National Guard soldiers.

A month ago today, Dunlap had driven to Burghardt's aid after the Marine explosives expert wasn't able to disarm the last of three improvised explosive devices.

Two things amazed those who were there that day:

• Burghardt survived the explosion and would return to duty in less than a month.

• A World-Herald photograph showing Burghardt standing on his own two feet, pants cut off, legs bandaged and directing a single-digit salute of defiance at his attackers, has transformed him into one of the most famous Marines of the Iraq war.

The photo appeared on numerous Marine-related Internet weblogs. Burghardt received more than 100 e-mails within days of the picture's publication. It has become a screensaver on soldiers' and Marines' computers across Iraq.

"I don't know how my anger turned into a motivational picture," Burghardt said.

Dunlap and the others with the 1st Platoon, Troop A of Nebraska Guard's 167th Cavalry didn't think about motivation when the IED exploded, engulfing Burghardt in debris, shrapnel and dirt.

"I thought he bought it," Dunlap said. "Then I saw his legs kicking."

When Dunlap reached Burghardt, the wounded Marine kept saying, "Just tell me I'm all right."

Don't lie, Burghardt told Dunlap, "Just tell me I'm all right."

The Marine Explosive Ordnance Disposal units are assigned to locate, identify, disarm and dispose of IEDs, which have become a favored weapon of the Iraqi insurgents. The Nebraskans accompanying those units provide security at the scene, guarding the perimeter while the EOD teams work.

Even wounded, the one thing Burghardt made sure he kept in his possession was his special-issue EOD unit Shrade knife with its 7-inch blade. He has carried it since 1994.

The knife came out of its sheath again Tuesday, as Burghardt searched in vain for a wire or explosives in a dirt pile previously used as a hiding place for bombs.

His first day back out was Oct. 13. But Tuesday was his most active, handling three missions with the CAV's 1st Platoon.

Burghardt said the three-plus weeks he spent recuperating at his unit's headquarters, unable to go on missions, were among the most difficult of his career. However, he joked that he did enjoy going to the base medical center to have his bandages around his thighs and wounds to his rear attended.

Sitting remains a problem, and his calves occasionally are sore. But Burghardt's not looking for a ticket out of Iraq. This is his third deployment to the country, and he expects more.

The 35-year-old Burghardt, of Huntington Beach, Calif., has been in the Marine Corps for 18 years, the last 15 in bomb disposal.

He's not looking to put in 20 years and then move into a lucrative civilian job, either.

"I'll do 30 years, as long as I'm having fun," Burghardt said. "Unless I die."

Burghardt was having fun just before dusk Tuesday, during his third mission with the CAV's 1st Platoon. They were called out onto the main highway east of Ramadi because of a suspicious inner tube spotted alongside a bridge.

"Gunny," as everyone calls Burghardt, moved off the highway and onto a berm, where he found a wire. The scissors came off the front of his body armor, and he snipped the wire.

That did not mean all was safe.

There were dangers of a booby trap or an alternate detonation source. So the EOD unit used a robot to check it out. It found two large artillery shells bound up in the inner tube.

Burghardt and his men removed the shells, which were large enough to destroy a Bradley Fighting Vehicle or Abrams tank. The shells were safely taken to a nearby field and detonated, sending debris skyward.

Just the kind of end to a day that Gunny Burghardt likes.

[AUJarhead 70]

Great story.

Semper Fi, Gunny!