![]() ![]() “My dad was in Beirut, and that’s how I was educated about it. “Every history book I’d ever read in high school said Beirut was a political war,” he said. He said he’d thought about becoming a Marine all his life, but the breaking point came during a high school history class. They’re definitely on my Christmas list.”īurnett was in high school when Darkhorse pushed through Fallujah during Operation Al Fajr in November 2004. “I didn’t really do anything except take the blast,” he said. “It’s very important that we stress that to the young Marines, and they’re learning it.”īurnett said that while his glasses saved his eyes, his fellow Marines gave him confidence in their ability to protect each other in future incidents. “As soon as you start relaxing and saying ‘I don’t need to wear eye-pro,’ that will be the day you get blinded,” he said. West, who is originally from Houston, said the battalion emphasizes the phrase “complacency kills” to every one of its Marines for their own safety. ![]() The ‘eye pro’ that they’re using now is worth its weight in gold.” “And as we go through this deployment, the younger Marines are learning how important it is to wear the gear. “Though their gear is heavy, with the chest plates, side SAPIs, throat protectors, and ‘eye-pro,’ all that stuff is invaluable,” said 1st Sgt. They’re completely covered with added protection against blasts. Turrett gunners like Burnett wear even more. Fire-retardant gloves and ballistic-rated eyeglasses are among the list Marine must wear, despite the heat and chores they take on. Marines wear Kevlar helmets, Kevlar-lined outer protective vests with enhanced small-arms protective inserts completely surrounding the upper body. The battalion enforces an order that Marines stay as protected as possible whenever they leave base, requiring body armor covering every essential organ, including the eyes. Once I saw them operating and keeping their bearing, now I understand how hard it is.” “I have the utmost confidence in them now, because that was the biggest IED we’d ever seen. “Those two guys are incredible,” he said. Scott Campbell, for maintaining their composure and reacting without hesitation to assess the situation and keep their vehicle from falling in the hole. He sustained a concussion and was evacuated to a military hospital in Balad, where doctors removed a small rock from his face.īurnett commended the quick action of his driver and his vehicle commander, Lance Cpl. The corpsman was amazed when he took a closer look.įlying debris had cut two gashes in Burnett’s face, which he said he didn’t feel until blood ran down his throat protector and under his flak jacket. “He was going off about how he lost his eye-pro and how he was slammed by the explosion and how big it was.” “I noticed he had blood on his hand and face,” Delgado said. When the 22-year-old from San Diego got to the vehicle, Burnett was already alert and standing in his gun turret, scanning the area for the enemy. “The first thing I thought was ‘Did anyone get hit?’” Delgado recalled. He described the explosion as a 40-foot high shower of fiery glass sparks. Delgado, MAP Platoon’s corpsman, who was riding in the vehicle behind Burnett’s. “The explosion made a crater in the road big enough for a humvee to fall in,” said Navy Seaman Eric J. The next thing he remembered was waking up on top of his equipment in the smoke-filled cabin of his humvee. The blast tore off his night vision goggles, taking his issued ballistic eyeglasses along with them. “It looked like a star cluster of 300 little dim light bulbs flying out of this huge cloud of smoke going up into the sky and draping off like the leaves of a weeping willow tree.” ![]() “That blast was so strong it threw me around like no tomorrow,” said Burnett, from Greenbrier, Ark. The 20-year-old turret gunner with Mobile Assault Platoon, Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment discovered the importance of ballistic eyewear firsthand when an improvised explosive device rocked his vehicle with a massive explosion during a nighttime mission outside Fallujah in early April. didn’t enjoy wearing his protective eyewear underneath his night vision goggles, but he had two good reasons to follow orders – his eyes.
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