Spc. Jesse Ryan Buryj | ALL GAVE SOME, SOME GAVE ALL

Spc. Jesse Ryan Buryj

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ALL GAVE SOME, SOME GAVE ALL

This is in Honor of My Fallen Hero

My son Spc. Jesse Ryan Buryj

KIA May 5th, 2004 Karbala, Iraq

The Story Begins

My son, Jesse was our only son and our baby. He was born December 7th, 1984 in Canton, Ohio. Jesse enlisted into the Army his senior year of high school. Jesse was a member of the Canton City Police Youth Corp for four years before going into the service. His dream from the time he was in the third grade was to be a police officer. He joined the Army to be a Military Police Officer. He also became a paratrooper..something he always wanted to do. Jesse was KIA May 5th 2004 at a checkpoint he was providing security at. He with his team were supporting a Polish Army mission. The journey to find out what really happened to Jess has been just that ..a long journey. We were first told that Jess died when a dump truck ran the checkpoint, hit Jess's humvee on which he was the gunner, Jess sustained internal injuries and died. The day we found out me my family as well as Jess's wife Amber were watching FOX News. A news story told that the driver of the humvee was shot when a truck tried to run a checkpoint. Amber knowing the team members because she lived at Ft Lewis, Washington after their marriage started making phone calls. We knew one soldier was dead and it was ours. Not until July did I know that Jess was shot. Not until February did we receive the autopsy. Not until April 19th, 2005 nearly a year later did we have our "death briefing.", Not until May 2005 a year later did we get the final report.

Jesse's Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Valor

These are the last two things my son gave me.

"FRIENDLY FIRE"

Basically after almost a year of waiting,,screaming,,begging,,crying,, we still do not know who killed Jesse. The final report says that the Polish Army is responsible for shooting Jess but the Polish Army does not take responsibility for it. It does not say for sure..."suspected does not mean proven." Those are the actual words from the report. The investigation was handled so horribly, I still can not believe it. I find it hard to believe that Jesse was fatally wounded and laying in the street and nobody knew he was shot. The faith I had in the United States Army has been shattered. When you are an Army MOM all you have is your faith to hold onto. That's what gets you through everyday and every sleepless night. I'm not upset over the friendly fire. I'm upset over not knowing for almost a year what happened to him. Hell,,I still do not know what happened to him. War IS hell. I know that. And from the bottom of my heart I blame no one. But Jesse deserved better. His wife and family deserved better.

My son the Cop

WAR...WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR

I have been asked a thousand times since Jesse's death what I think about the war. Naturally, I'm against all wars. I honestly think it is a "man" thing. Every so many years the men feel this primal need to go fight. Probably a "mine's bigger than yours" type thing. Woman are generally the motherly ones and the nurturers. Thats just my opinion. I know that's simplifying things a little bit but that's what I believe. My son was a soldier and a warrior always. That was his mission and purpose in life. Anybody that new Jess for two seconds knew the type of person he was. Always the protector and peacemaker. My son had a lot to live for. He had a wife and family that adored him. But my son would of been pissed off if there wasn't a war to go and fight. That was what he was all about. I won't debate the politics of this war. I'll leave that for the politicians. But my son told me with his own mouth that the Iraqis begged them everyday not to leave them. "American soldier don't leave." Every morning the woman outside the camp baked them bread to show their gratitude. My son believed in what he was doing there. That is good enough for me.

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