Posted on 05/31/2008 3:55:59 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
His hearing isn’t as keen as it once was, and arthritis in his lower back is chronic.
He’s not an old man, just a 38-year-old U.S. Marine who tussled with death and won.
Marine Corps Master Sgt. Michael Burghardt of Fountain Valley, Calif., says it took him a long time to recover emotionally from surviving a roadside bomb in Iraq in September 2005. An explosives ordnance disposal expert, Burghardt was 12 inches from the blast.
Instead of counting his blessings that the shrapnel studded flat against his body instead of tearing through it, Burghardt was wracked by guilt.
The attention generated by the widely circulated photo of him flipping off the triggerman didn’t help.
Getting recognition "that I survived when I should have been dead made me feel guilty because I had lost … fellow EOD technicians who … were my friends," he said. Time and counseling helped him realize "I was still here to tell their story."
Burghardt, the previous EOD chief at Camp Fuji, Japan, until his reassignment in April, can’t imagine doing anything else, despite three tours in Iraq and the obvious job hazards.
It gives him the opportunity to serve his country, save the lives of others and play the most adrenaline-packed chess game of his life, he said.
"You’re doing your moves, the bad guy’s doing his moves, and nothing is ever the same," he said. "For people who love a challenge, this is a perfect job."
The junior EOD Marines keep him motivated, he said. "If I leave, who are they going to learn from?" he said.
The image has to be on a server accessible to the internet. A lot of people here use photobucket.com. Once you’ve uploaded your picture, use this:
[img src=”irl of your image”]
except you have to use “<” and “>” instead of “[” and “]”
The irl of your image needs to be complete... for example, the irl for the image posted above is http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/He219/militaryphotosnet/80bab729.jpg
Hope that helps
HOO-RAH!
I have a grandon in Camp Pendleton, training his dog for his next tour. I’m so proud!!!
Semper Fidelis!
This brings a tear to my eye. God bless the Marine Corps and God bless this wonderful nation of ours. I am so proud to be an American.
The dude is ON!
Anyone who disagrees with this marine should be the next in line for his “finger.” Hopefully, it will come fully loaded and have lots of phosphoresent shrapnel. AQ deserves only the best from America’s Finest!
Thank God for these men.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you God.
You never know.
One of us may save your bacon some day. Not to mention all the terrorists that have gone to meet Allah, courtesy of an LDS soldier/sailor/marine/air force pilot or ground troops. But I always say, "Never look a gift horse on the wrong end."
AMEN!!!
It's a great photo. All American. Geez, this from Stars and Stripes?
To America’s enemies:
You’ll always be Number One with us.
Sincerely,
The United States Marine Corps
F*uckin’ ay! Goddammit, I’m glad God gave us Marines!
America, F—k Yeah!
I don’t know why he’s wracked with guilt. He sent the message that his buddies would have sent, if they’d been able to do so.
Brave, brave man.
He speaks for an awful lot of us. Give 'em the bird!
Hey Master Sergeant Burghardt! You were my wallpaper for the longest time. A lot of the bleeding hearts where I worked at the time couldn’t understand why - it’s because I’m damned proud to have Men like you in the Corps.
It’s sad to see PC in Stars and Stripes.
Agreed. Usually they are a pretty good read.
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