We all, by now know the story of trumpster. But that actually comes from a long line of "salutes" to snipers, bomb-makers, and the like to ensure they know they failed. This is the story of Gunny Burghard, an EOD guy that was out picking up cigarette butts according TAFKAP, when he was also searching for IEDs. He looks down and finds a strand of detonation cord between his legs. For some reason, he wasn't wearing his EOD Suit, I know they're heavy and everything, but dang gunny!
The asshole was watching him go through the IED field and sets off a string, including the det cord. This blew up between his legs. The corpsman (pronounced COREMAN) immediately ran to him willing to give his life for the Gunny. His uniform is burning so the corpsman cuts his pants off, wraps up his leg, and starts to get him to the MEDEVAC. They have a stretcher for him, but he refuses. In that one last act of defiance, and without trousers on, gunny flips off the guy with the phone trying to kill him.
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.
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 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 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."
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We all, by now know the story of trumpster. But that actually comes from a long line of "salutes" to snipers, bomb-makers, and the like to ensure they know they failed. This is the story of Gunny Burghard, an EOD guy that was out picking up cigarette butts according TAFKAP, when he was also searching for IEDs. He looks down and finds a strand of detonation cord between his legs. For some reason, he wasn't wearing his EOD Suit, I know they're heavy and everything, but dang gunny!
