A Marine"s Story

September, 2007 - It has been nearly three years since I created this site and I've decided to give it a fresh look. I still miss him everyday but I believe the best way to honour his memory is to live my life to the fullest, as he would want me to do.

Jen

(Written in November 2004, immediately after Dale's death)

Dale is my baby brother and he died on Sunday. I’m not a very good writer but I want everyone to remember him. It’s hard because in my head he is still a baby I can’t really believe that this has happened. I want everyone to know who he was.


If any of you know my family you know that we are a Marine family. My father, Dale Sr., was a Marine and a Vietnam veteran. Dale always wanted to be a Marine too.

Dad suffered from various health problems for most of my life, in part because he was wounded in Vietnam. His health worsened when I was eleven years old (Dale was nine). He lapsed into a coma and when he awoke two or so weeks later he had brain damage and was never the same.

This made life in our family really difficult. Mom had to take care of the three of us kids (I have a younger sister too) plus dad. Dad’s brain damage made him really difficult to deal with and be around. Dale struggled but was able to stay focused because of his dream of being a Marine.

When Dale was sixteen he left school and got his GED so he could join the Marines at age seventeen. I remember when graduated from boot camp he told me it was the happiest day of his life.

Dale was deployed three times, twice to Iraq. Until the last day he always loved being a Marine.


Reporters have told Dale’s story, similar to the one above, but that’s not really important and that’s not really how I want him remembered. Because that’s not a person’s life, that a soldier’s life, and Dale was more than a soldier. So here’s how I remember Dale.


Thursday, September 13, 2007

Marine Corps Achievement Medal

Originally written in November 2004
However, after his first time Iraq he did seem different. Mom asked him if he had to kill people, and he said yes but didn’t want to talk about it. It wasn’t like his first deployment, when he came home full of stories. I think he started to take his training more seriously. On May 21, 2004, he was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for saving two lives during winter survival training. He never even mentioned this to us, and it wasn’t until after he was killed we found the award.


“Corporal Burger,
Congratulations on your well-deserved award for leadership and decisive action that undoubtedly saved lives. I am very proud to serve with you in the “Thundering Third.”
Semper Fidelis,
LTCOL Buhl”

“FOR PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT IN THE SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE OF HIS DUTIES WHILE SERVING AS FIRST SQUAD LEADER, 2ND PLATOOON, COMPANY 1, 3D BATTALION, 1ST MARINES, MOUNTAIN WARFARE TRAINING CENTER, BRIDGEPORT, CALIFORNIA ON 10 DECEMBER 2003. CORPORAL BURGER DISPLAYED EXCEPTIONAL LEADERSHIP AND LIFESAVING SKILLS DURING A 13-MILE HIKE IN FREEZING TEMPERATURES. AFTER WITNESSING TWO MARINES BECOME COLD WEATHER CASULATIES, CORPORAL BURGER QUICKLY TOOK INITATIVE BY ENSURING THAT THEIR WET CLOTHES WERE TAKEN OFF AND THAT THEY WERE PLACED IN SLEEPING BAGS. CORPORAL BURGER’S EXPERT KNOWLEDGE OF WINTER SURVIVAL ENABLED HIM TO BUILD A SNOW SHELTER AND PROLONG THE SUVIVABILITY OF THE TWO CASUALTIES UNTIL A MEDICAL EVACUATION COULD BE CONDUCTED. FUTHERMORE, UPON COMPLETION OF THE HIKE, CORPORAL BURGER CONTINUED TO ENSURE THE WELFARE OF HIS MARINES BEFORE HE HIMSELF SUCCUMBED TO EXHAUSTION. CORPORAL BURGER’S EXCEPTIONAL PROFESSIONALISM, INITATIVE, AND DEDICATION TO DUTY REFLECT GREAT CTEDIT UPON HIMSELF AND WERE IN KEEPING WITH THE HIGHEST TRADITIONS OF THE MARINE CORPS AND THE UNITED STATES NAVAL SERVICE.”

The last time I saw him I asked him how he felt going back to Iraq and from his response I know he knew it would be worse. We later found out he had left behind the names of the friends he wanted to be his pallbearers.

Posted by Jennifer at 6:33 PM

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