Photo By Maj. Andrew Bolla | US Marine Corps Col. Willard Buhl congratulates retired Marine Corps Cpl. Brandon...... read more read more
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QUANTICO, Va. - For most Marines, the path to a Good Conduct Medal is a simple one: stay out of trouble for three years. However, if you ask retired US Marine Cpl. Brandon Burns, he would share a completely different timeline. Burns, a native of Memphis, Tennessee, enlisted in the Marine Corps in July 2003 as a heavy machine gunner. In 2004, then Lance Cpl. Burns was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines (3/1), as a member of the combined anti-armor platoon. He immediately deployed to Iraq where his unit was responsible for patrolling the deadly highways between Abu Ghraib Prison and Fallujah.
3/1 conducted a counter-insurgency mission for five months in the period before the second battle of Fallujah. Burns patrolled highways, escorted convoys, manned vehicle checkpoints, conducted ambushes, and reacted to contact as part of a quick reaction force. During this time, 10 of his fellow Marines were killed in action before the actual fighting to clear Fallujah began in November 2004.
Two days into the fight to clear Fallujah, Burns was attached to an infantry company providing heavy weapons support to other Marine units. On Nov. 9, 2004, Burns’ company received fire from a large four-story building. His section leader ordered him to suppress each of the windows in the building, not knowing which window the sniper was firing from. Burns fired several 40mm grenades from his Mark 19 grenade launcher through each window of the building, expending nearly four cans of ammunition in the process. Satisfied that he had eliminated the threat, he turned to provide supporting fire to another building. When he did, a round impacted very close to him in his turret. From the impact, it was clear to Burns that the enemy sniper was again firing from the building he had first engaged. He yelled down to his section leader what was happening, but was told to return to his gun and resume firing at the new target to the front. Burns knew that this probably meant he would be hit, but his discipline and training required him to obey orders— and he did. The next thing Burns knew, he was in intensive care at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Burns was severely wounded in the head when a 7.62mm bullet penetrated his helmet and skull. “Doc” Morgan Bradley, the section corpsman, was credited with saving his life while waiting for the medical evacuation process to begin.
After Burns returned to the United States, he began a long, slow road to recovery. During this time, his skull was repaired with cranioplasty, implanting an artificial plastic skull replacement. In addition to surgeries, Burns had to learn to speak, walk, read, and write again as his brain damage severely impaired his speech and the use of his right arm and leg. His rehabilitation was not without risk as he nearly died from infection on several occasions.
Burns spent several years of back and forth rehabilitation between Bethesda and a VA polytrauma center in Tampa, Florida. During this time he met Laura, who a year and a half later would become his wife.
A year and half after his injury, in March 2006, Burns was meritoriously promoted to corporal by 1st Marine Division Commanding General Maj. Gen. Rich Natonski shortly before Burns medically retired, a few months shy of three years, from the Marine Corps.
After moving to Stafford, Virginia, for work, Burns met with Doris Vaiana, a family readiness coordinator with the VA. While reviewing his awards, Vaiana realized Burns never received a Good Conduct Medal because he did not reach three years of service. After the conversation, Vaiana contacted Sheila Rosinski with the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society to discuss special entitlements for medically retired Marines. After researching the topic, Rosinski learned that a Marine who medically retired due to combat injury prior to their three year anniversary could be awarded their first Good Conduct Medal. She immediately contacted the awards branch of Headquarter Marine Corps for assistance.
Nine years later on Nov. 18, 2015, Col. Willard Buhl, former Wounded Warrior Regiment commanding officer and Burns’ commanding officer when he was injured, presented him with his Good Conduct Medal in front of his family and friends outside Lance Cpl. Christopher Adlesperger Hall, Wounded Warrior Regiment Headquarters, in Quantico, Virginia. Burns was injured during the same time and place where Adlesperger lost his life.
After retiring from the Marine Corps, Burns entered the seminary and became a minister of God. Today, he is serving his church around the US and abroad, most recently visiting Sri Lanka. Burns intends to someday return to Iraq and minister. He and Laura have three children together, including a son, Morgan, named after the corpsman that saved Burns’ life.
| Date Taken: | 12.04.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 12.04.2015 14:22 |
| Story ID: | 183503 |
| Location: | QUANTICO, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 7,023 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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