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 5 foot deep and 8 foot wide crater.

The earth shifted slightly and he saw a Senao base station with a wire lea ding 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 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 teammates 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.


Cheers, Vince

Good Man!!

My father was a Marine and I am damn proud of him and all the rest of you that fight for our way of life.Semper Fi

If you can read a story like that and not be proud of the folks we have in our military, not to mention the militaries of our allies, then there is just something wrong with you.

Hitlery Clinton and the like should take note.

Bravo Zulu to the Gunny and his men. EOD is a real bear to tackle. As for the politicos here at home, that finger may be meant for them as well.

Proud Navy Chief.

Still serving? Or retired...Welcome aboard Shipmate...

I had that picture as my screen saver for quite a while until the I.T. Nazis at work made me remove it from my company computer - I now call the three ahemmm ......... Nazi gentlemen - "Jackboot", "Pinko" and "Commie". That Non Com is my hero and the story behind it makes it that much better.

As Bushy said dballard...welcome aboard mate...or is that matelot. Grab a beer, pull up a bollard and sit awhile.

Geez....there are so many old salts here it won't be long and we will be piped aboard when we open HuntingNut.

Cheers, Vince

Thanks for the welcome Bushy and Vince. Not serving anymore. Had the pleasure of serving with Marines on the Constellation though. Fine bunch. I wish the Gunny well.

Vince, made it to OZ several times. Love the beer. Perth, Freemantle, Sterling Navy Base, Hobart, and Brisbane. Glad I didn't know about the snakes before. I hate snakes.

Wiley, I know what you mean about people who can't handle the display of even the flag. I work around alot of liberals who bash. Very social, very green, very elitist. I use alot of military on my screen as background. Being a missile tech, I have Aegis and Terrier shots displayed all of the time.

I am also their programmer and computer guru, so they know not to piss me off. Their computer may stop working......

Chief

Welcome aboard Chief.

Served with them in Vietnam also. Agree...fine bunch. Also served with lots of old Navy chiefs that could run their branch of the Navy without an officer barking orders.

As an environmental scientist, you'd think I'd be working around a bunch of liberal socialists, but on the contrary, every scientist I know are conservatives. I can tell you one thing; Gore must have searched long and hard to find the wackos that will support his theories. Ours are entirely different.

Have a great day!

Cary

Cary, I've noticed that I've noticed that almost all technicians and engineers I've worked with are conservatives. Certainly all of the good ones are. I believe that is because they THINK rather than just "feel".

That’s exactly right. In the science fields, good scientists require proof, before we make any factual claims. In any reports, we never use the word "is" unless we can prove it, and still we reference lab reports to back it up. This makes us less touchy, feely, and emotional, and less likely to be liberals.

Cary

I've noticed that alot of liberals like to deal with "what if". That is what got us here in the first place. It is unfortunate that we are being bombarded with "what if" being called "really is".

Chief

Well said!

Cary

I wasn't able to serve. Even after challenging the board three times I couldn't enlist. 1-Y
All I can say is, Thank you to the men and women that do serve and have served. Blessings to the families of those that came home but not back.