My Brothers and Sisters,

[thedrifter]

My Brothers and Sisters,

I know there is a posting in Guarding the Gates about this
extraordinary
Marine. He will be laid to rest on Wednesday, 23 April. If you are near

Bushnell, Florida, I will be there. If you get a chance Google this
Marine or visit the website for the foundation he started,
www.merlinsmiracles.com . I have been working with the wounded warriors

for a couple of years now, but was never as inspired as being in his
presence. He will be missed.

The latest I have he will be flown to Tampa Bay on Monday or Tuesday.
On
Wednesday he will be laid to rest at the Florida National Cemetery
located at 6502 SW 102nd Ave., in Bushnell, Florida. The time of the
burial is still TBA.

Semper Fi Sgt German,

Chris Hedgecorth
CWO-4, USMC

Ellie

Chris is a good friend of Mark and I....

[thedrifter]

Cary Clack: Marine had class galore

Web Posted: 04/14/2008 05:43 PM CDT

San Antonio Express-News

The young Marine's house in Windcrest sits between streets named Battle Pass and Ceremony Love. Merlin German, who had lived in the two-story, light-brick home for a year, was brought to San Antonio in February 2005 because of battle wounds suffered in Iraq. Just when it appeared that the worst toll of his horrific injuries was behind him, on Friday, at the age of 21, he was unexpectedly gone.

In that house on Sunday afternoon, his family and friends, in a ceremony of conversation anointed with tears and laughter, remembered the extroverted and confident young man from New York who, until his last day, saw life as a buffet that is to be fully enjoyed.

"He was strong and independent," said Lourdes German about her youngest child.

"Funny, a jokester," said his brother, Ariel.

Merlin's bedroom is tastefully and maturely appointed, but the dozens of New York Yankees caps, the poster of hip hop stars, the "Scarface" movie stills, figurine and lampshade and the stuffed animals and model cars are a reminder of how young he was.

Serving in the military is all that anyone can remember Merlin talking about wanting to do as he grew up.

"He always wanted to be in the military," remembers Jedd Chesterson, his best friend from high school.

He joined the Marines after graduating from high school. When he went home after boot camp, his brother Fred teased him that the Iraqi soldiers would take his rifle away from him. Merlin grabbed a broomstick and challenged his brother to try to take it away from him, which Fred quickly did.

Surprised, Merlin said, "They're not that strong in Iraq."

He got stronger. On Feb. 21, 2005, Merlin had been in Iraq for nine months and was two weeks away from coming home.

"He'd already bought his ticket," said his father, Hemery.

His Humvee hit a roadside improvised explosive device in Baghdad and he suffered burns over 97 percent of his body.

"Every part except the top of his scalp and the soles of his feet," said his sister Lawren.

That he survived amazed the doctors at Brooke Army Medical Center.

"They called him the 'Miracle Man,'" says Norma Guerra, deputy for public affairs at BAMC who'd become a second mother to him.

He was hospitalized for 17 months and endured anywhere from 120 to 150 operations. His family lost count. Whenever he was hospitalized he'd go to the rooms of other wounded veterans to encourage them to keep going and getting better.

He designed a T-shirt that in the front read, "Got 3 percent chance of survival, what ya gonna do?" The back of it read, "A) Fight Through, b) Stay Strong, c) Overcome Because I Am a Warrior, d) All Of The Above." D is circled.

In October 2006, the artist Thomas Kinkade learned about Merlin and, impressed with his spirit, gave him a signed, limited edition of his painting, "Heading Home," which shows a soldier walking toward a light.

Two months later, at BAMC's Christmas Ball, Merlin, after weeks of agonizing practice with Guerra, surprised his mother by dancing with her to, "Have I Told You Lately." Boxes of Kleenex that had been placed on tables for that moment were used in abundance.

"No young man that I've ever known loved his mother as strongly as Merlin loved his mother, and vice versa," said Madeline Johnson who, along with her husband, Rick, befriended the German family.

Merlin was featured in USA Today as well as this and other newspapers and became a bit of a celebrity magnet, meeting, among others, President Bush and, most recently, Dennis Miller during the Final Four. He'd become friends and dinner partners with the magician David Blane, who visits his aunt in San Antonio. (Yes, a young man named Merlin was the friend of a magician.)

He went into the hospital last Thursday to have some work done on his lip. The cause of his unexpected death is still unknown.

Merlin's love for children and his desire to ease their pain was behind the most important project he was planning: a Make-A-Wish type organization called Merlin's Miracles for children who are burn victims.

"We're going to make this happen," says Guerra.

That's just one of the legacies of Merlin German, for whom a memorial service will be held this afternoon at 3 p.m. at BAMC.

His mother wants this to be known.

"Even though he was very strong and had very strong attitudes, he was loving and compassionate," she said.

The painting, "Heading Home" hangs on a second-floor wall. Outside, between the streets Battle Pass and Ceremony Love, children ride their bicycles and skateboards and play kickball.

For information, visit merlinsmiracles.com.



Cary Clack's column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. To leave him a message, call (210) 250-3546 or e-mail at cclack@express-news.net

Ellie

[thedrifter]

BAMC's 'Miracle Man' didn't let injuries hurt his spirit

Web Posted: 04/16/2008 12:23 AM CDT

Scott Huddleston
Express-News

To the doctors, staff and patients, he was a walking beacon of hope, having survived burns to 97 percent of his body from a roadside blast in Iraq.

Though he died unexpectedly after a surgery last week, the indomitable spirit of Sgt. Merlin German lives on at Brooke Army Medical Center, friends and family members said during a touching tribute to the Marine called the "Miracle Man."

In his three years at BAMC — first a record 17 months in inpatient care, then more than a year in outpatient therapy — German was a living legend whose inspiring determination drew the interest of President Bush, actor Chuck Norris and other VIPs he met. Everything about him, from sarcastic one-liners to his color-coordinated medical garments, will be missed at BAMC, which has treated more than 3,700 troops wounded in the Middle East.

"There is no way to adequately describe what Merlin did for us," said Lt. Col. Evan Renz, director of the Army Burn Center at BAMC.

German, who was living in Windcrest, died Friday night after routine surgery Thursday to place skin on his lip, BAMC officials said. Results of an autopsy are pending.

The youngest of eight children growing up in New York, Merlin and his brothers weren't allowed to play with toy guns, his brother Ariel German said. By age 11, he had decided he'd become a Marine so he could shoot a real gun.

He turned out to be an outstanding gunner in the Marines, with a knack for spotting hidden explosives in Iraq. On Feb. 21, 2005, on a reconnaissance mission, his Humvee was hit by an explosive near Ramadi.

German survived a 13-hour flight from Germany but was only given a 3 percent chance of survival. All but the top of his head and soles of his feet had been burned. But after 11 months in intensive care, he'd visit new burn patients, encouraging them to keep heart.

Tuesday's ceremony paid tribute to the 22-year-old who seemed a study in contradiction — a tough Marine whose tenderness showed in the affections he showered on his mother. He loved loud hip-hop music but prayed three or four times daily.

"Love is the only word strong and powerful enough to describe how we all felt about Merlin," said Brig. Gen. James K. Gilman, BAMC commander.

Gilman said he'll miss seeing German and gently bumping his fist against the nubs of what had once been German's fingers, after asking him, "Hey man, how ya doing?" But he said German left behind words for BAMC's staff and patients to live by when times get rough.

"If Merlin were here today, there is no doubt in my mind what he would say: 'Fight through, stay strong and overcome because we are warriors,'" Gilman said.

At the burn center, German was part of a trio of burn patients who would mentor the newly wounded, said Staff Sgt. Christopher Edwards, who had burns to 79 percent of his body from a bomb blast in Iraq in 2005.

"If I couldn't make an impression on them, I'd use Merlin as the example," Edwards said.

German wanted no sympathy, and had a biting sense of humor, in spite of a wispy voice from his damaged throat and lungs.

"Chris, I know you've got money. Let me teach you how to dress," he'd tell Edwards.

His gentle side came through in his dream of forming a foundation, called Merlin's Miracles, to help burned children. In lieu of flowers, his family asked that donations be sent to a mailing address posted on the foundation's Web site, merlinsmiracles.com. A funeral is planned next week in Florida.

Edwards said German's death is a loss for everyone at BAMC.

"I really don't think it's set in yet," he said.

Near the end of the ceremony, Lt. Col. Grant Olbrich, officer in charge of BAMC's Marine patient affairs team, described an image of German, now free of pain and the scars of war, guarding the streets of heaven.

"And he's beautiful, and he's laughing," Olbrich said.

shuddleston@express-news.net

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/D_IMAGE.118eaf352b3.93.88.fa.d0.6aaa0b42.jpg

(Eric Gay/AP)

Burn patient Merlin German with Lt. Gen. James F. Amos during a promotion ceremony last May at BAMC. The cause of the sergeant's death was pending the return of autopsy results.

Ellie

[hrscowboy]

Slow hand Salute Rest in peace my Brother

[SGT7477]

RIP Marine, Semper FI.

[Big Jim]

Semper Fi brother...rest in peace...

[darkgreen0311]

Saint Peter i will tell another Marine reporting sir i've served my time in hell.




:marine: :flag: SEMPER FI 4 LIFE
YOURS IS NOT TO QUESTION WHY BUT TO DO OR DIE!!! R.I.P BRO

[thedrifter]

'Miracle Marine' dies after beating odds


(CNN) -- A Marine who survived being burned over more than 95 percent of his body in Iraq and established a charity to help burned children has died, the military has announced.

Sgt. Merlin German was 22.

He was severely wounded February 21, 2005, en route to Camp Ramadi when his Humvee hit a roadside bomb.

He was not expected to survive, but he was transported to Germany and then to Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, which has the U.S. military's top burns unit.

He spent nine months in intensive care and underwent more than 100 operations.

German moved out of the hospital into his own home after 17 months of treatment.

He founded Merlin's Miracles, a charity that aims "to assist burned children and their families to take vacations, trips, outings or anything the families needed to make life a little easier," according to its Web site.

German died April 11 at Brooke Army Medical Center of complications after surgery.

"He beat all odds and then on top of that continued to serve as an inspiration and motivator for others," said Dr. Evan Renz, a critical-care surgeon who treated German.

"It is very difficult to describe the sense of loss. He endeared himself to all he came in contact with. It's really impossible to describe, except to say: Imagine the loss of dear family or friend."

Renz remembers being impressed with German from the start.

"This young man was clearly showing us signs he was going to fight through this from the very first minute," he said.

"There was consensus he was going to be a someone who would probably break some of the previous expectations about survivability. If someone was going to survive, he was going to be that individual."

CNN's Barbara Starr and Larry Shaugnessy contributed to this report.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

SGT. MERLIN GERMAN, 1985-2008



May 3, 2008 -- Anyone wondering what kind of men the US military is capable of produc ing need look no further than New York's own Sgt. Merlin German, who passed away last month at age 22.

German, a Manhattan native and proud Marine, suffered burns to more than 97 percent of his body in 2005, when he was hit with a roadside bomb in Iraq's then-violent Anbar Province. Doctors put his chances of survival at just 3 percent.

But German, who earned the nickname "Miracle Man," fought on for more than three years, undergoing some 120 surgical procedures in the process.

He died unexpectedly on April 11, after a relatively minor surgery to replace skin under his lip, the Pentagon announced Thursday.

The magnitude of German's injuries, of course, made his struggle singularly heroic. Nevertheless - as he would be the first to point out - he was only one of thousands of wounded soldiers, sailors and Marines who face their injuries with courage equal to that of the battlefield.

German, in particular, was known for his unflappable sense of humor and passion for bringing cheer to his fellow vets.

He also dreamed of establishing a charity - Merlin's Miracles, online at www.merlinsmiracles.com - for child burn victims and their families.

America has lost one of its best.

Rest in peace.

Ellie

[rb1651]

Rest In Peace, Sgt. German. Your courage and memory will not be forgotten. To show my appreciation for your service and compassion for others, a donation was sent today to your charity so that it can continue to fulfill your dreams of taking care of children who have suffered a horrible accident.