thedrifter
10-25-07, 03:59 PM
Vandals deface Marine’s Texas grave site
By Michael Hoffman - mhoffman@militarytimes.com
Posted : Thursday Oct 25, 2007 15:01:07 EDT
Two days after Brent and Karla Burris buried their son Jeremy — a lance corporal who died after stepping on a roadside bomb in Iraq earlier this month — the family received a disturbing call.
Vandals had stolen and shredded floral displays, flags and posters drawn by local schoolchildren that surrounded their son’s grave site.
Lance Cpl. Burris, 22, was pa¬trolling the Syrian border in Anbar, Iraq, on Oct. 8 with 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, when his vehicle hit a bomb buried in the road. At first, Burris was not se¬verely injured and helped carry out the two other injured Marines. But when he walked back to the vehicle to retrieve equipment, he stepped on another improvised ex¬plosive device.
On Oct. 16, the small town of Liberty, Texas — population 9,000 — shut down. Schools and busi¬nesses closed to welcome back Burris’ body accompanied by his brother, Spc. Bryan Burris, a sol¬dier currently deployed to Iraq.
The funeral procession stretched four miles, and Liberty Police Chief Mike Cummings esti¬mated a couple thousand people attended the 3½-hour service.
After members of the local Vet¬erans of Foreign Wars chapter dis¬covered the destruction done to the grave site Oct. 18, a town-wide manhunt started for the cul¬prits, Cummings said.
“They better hope the police catch them before some of the local Marines looking for them right now,” he said.
Karla Burris said the family didn’t see the destruction because a Liberty funeral home rushed to clean it up. She said she was still wrestling with exactly how she felt about the incident.
“If something would have hap¬pened to the grave itself, I would have felt differently,” she said. “But this is really small potatoes compared to what we’re dealing with right now.”
Local police have no leads and continue to investigate the case, Cummings said.
“Right now, this is priority No. 1 for us,” he said.
Police have received almost $25,000 in donations from local businesses and private citizens to set up a reward for the capture of the vandals, Cummings said.
The vandals could face jail time since it’s “a state jail felony in Texas to commit criminal mis¬chief at a house of worship or a burial site,” he said.
The oldest of seven children, Burris always talked about joining the Corps growing up, his mom said. His dream was to fly the AV-8B Harrier jet, and while Burris was disappointed to find out he couldn’t compete for a pilot slot be¬cause he wore corrective lenses, he joined anyway in June 2005.
“He just wanted to be the best at the hardest,” Karla Burris said. Ë
Ellie
By Michael Hoffman - mhoffman@militarytimes.com
Posted : Thursday Oct 25, 2007 15:01:07 EDT
Two days after Brent and Karla Burris buried their son Jeremy — a lance corporal who died after stepping on a roadside bomb in Iraq earlier this month — the family received a disturbing call.
Vandals had stolen and shredded floral displays, flags and posters drawn by local schoolchildren that surrounded their son’s grave site.
Lance Cpl. Burris, 22, was pa¬trolling the Syrian border in Anbar, Iraq, on Oct. 8 with 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, when his vehicle hit a bomb buried in the road. At first, Burris was not se¬verely injured and helped carry out the two other injured Marines. But when he walked back to the vehicle to retrieve equipment, he stepped on another improvised ex¬plosive device.
On Oct. 16, the small town of Liberty, Texas — population 9,000 — shut down. Schools and busi¬nesses closed to welcome back Burris’ body accompanied by his brother, Spc. Bryan Burris, a sol¬dier currently deployed to Iraq.
The funeral procession stretched four miles, and Liberty Police Chief Mike Cummings esti¬mated a couple thousand people attended the 3½-hour service.
After members of the local Vet¬erans of Foreign Wars chapter dis¬covered the destruction done to the grave site Oct. 18, a town-wide manhunt started for the cul¬prits, Cummings said.
“They better hope the police catch them before some of the local Marines looking for them right now,” he said.
Karla Burris said the family didn’t see the destruction because a Liberty funeral home rushed to clean it up. She said she was still wrestling with exactly how she felt about the incident.
“If something would have hap¬pened to the grave itself, I would have felt differently,” she said. “But this is really small potatoes compared to what we’re dealing with right now.”
Local police have no leads and continue to investigate the case, Cummings said.
“Right now, this is priority No. 1 for us,” he said.
Police have received almost $25,000 in donations from local businesses and private citizens to set up a reward for the capture of the vandals, Cummings said.
The vandals could face jail time since it’s “a state jail felony in Texas to commit criminal mis¬chief at a house of worship or a burial site,” he said.
The oldest of seven children, Burris always talked about joining the Corps growing up, his mom said. His dream was to fly the AV-8B Harrier jet, and while Burris was disappointed to find out he couldn’t compete for a pilot slot be¬cause he wore corrective lenses, he joined anyway in June 2005.
“He just wanted to be the best at the hardest,” Karla Burris said. Ë
Ellie