Leading the fight is U S Marine 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 the 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 Marines. 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 5 foot deep and 8 foot 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 7 inch 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 fellow Marines 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 with more ingenious ways of killing Americans.
Semper Fi
Today, Michelle and I rode our motorcycles down to pay our respects to one such soldier who gave it all on the field of battle. Danny Dietz. Petty Officer 2nd Class Dietz was a 25 year old Navy Seal who epitomized honor, duty, and valor on the battlefield. Wounded seriously 5 times, Danny fought hard to protect the lives of his three teammates during an intense gunfight in Afghanistan in June of 2005. His injuries were so severe that no one would have blamed him for not continuing to pour out precision fire into the enemy’s ranks. But he did. He kept fighting with the complete and total selflessness of someone who cares deeply about his teammates above himself. His story is documented in Marcus Luttrell’s book Lone Survivor. Danny and the rest of his SEAL team’s story is shocking and amazing and should be required reading of every American. It shows the level of sacrifice our warriors put out every day.
Danny is from Littleton, Colorado and a local artist was so moved by his story he created a bronze sculpture to honor his sacrifice. The monument is moving and emotional to stand next to. Today, Michelle and I were the only ones there to view his memorial. But we weren’t the first. Many had come by and placed something on the monument in thanks. The cool breeze was blowing dried up leaves across the grass. Cars would cruise by with the drivers oblivious to the soldier whose gaze will stare forward into eternity, on guard, preventing them from harm. His posture in the statue is strong, head up, eyes forward as if scanning for threats. His jaw is set with fierce determination. His hands cradle his weapon like a craftsman’s tool. It is an amazing work of art.
But it is more than a statue honoring one soldier. It stands for the thousands of men and women who have stepped willingly into harms way and been wounded or killed to protect our freedoms and America’s interests. Every city in our great country should have one of these statues of a local hero who gave it all. But they don’t. This one almost didn’t get built because the local parents and neighbors thought it was bad form to place a statue of a soldier holding his weapon so near a school. Their ignorance and focus was on the gun, not the story of heroism. But justice and honor prevailed and this monument to courage was permanently fixed in place.
I urge you all to take the drive one afternoon to Berry Park in Littleton and spend some time with Danny. Think about the freedoms you have and the life you are able to lead in our Republic. Realize just how precious our freedoms are and how many are trying to tear them down. Set your own moral compass toward protection of our constitution, supporting our soldiers, and electing politicians who are just and honest and who will fight to protect what so many have given up to build. The cost of freedom is not paid in a stimulus bill, it is paid for in blood. The blood of an American soldier who may or may not “believe” in the battles they are asked to fight. The blood of American citizens who VOLUNTEER to protect you while you sleep comfortably in your bed, spend time with your family, and chase your career. The blood of your neighbor, relative, co-worker, or total stranger. These soldiers allow you to be a conservative or liberal, democrat or republican, activists or non-activists, to start your own business, and control your own destiny. They allow you to lead YOUR life the way YOU want to lead it.
This year, take a minute and support someone who fought for you by making a donation to any fine soldier supporting agency such as Wounded Warrior Project (http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/) or the USO (https://www.uso.org/) . You can even reach out and organize a package delivery to any soldier in any theater of battle (http://adoptaplatoon.org/site/). But most of all, simply don’t forget them this veteran’s day.
