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Bremerton High grad killed on Stryker patrol

Oct-13-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

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By Sara Jean Green

Two months ago, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael Lee Burbank gave up a relatively safe assignment directing troop enlistment in Iraq for a place on the front lines.

The Bremerton High School graduate was supposed to come home late next week for an eight-month leave. His wife had booked vacations to Disneyland, British Columbia and Texas. Now, she has to plan a funeral.

Burbank, 34, and 10 other men were riding in a Stryker vehicle, one of three returning to an Army base south of Mosul after a Monday morning patrol. [...]

Burbank grew up in Oregon's Grand Ronde area before moving to Bremerton as a teenager, Culley said. After graduating from high school, he met Shawna Culley at the Bremerton Public Library, and the two married in April 1995. Less than two years later, he joined the Army.

"He's all soldier. He's so gung-ho, it's unbelievable," Culley said. "He's [been commended] everywhere he's been, and he's risen through the ranks quicker than anybody."

But it was his honesty and reserved ways that drew others to him, Culley said. "The rest of the soldiers loved him," he said.

Though Culley and his daughter worried about Burbank's decision to leave headquarters for battle, they weren't surprised he volunteered.

"He was called to serve, and he served valiantly," Culley said. "I lost a great friend and a great son. He was a great leader."

In addition to his wife and wife's family, Burbank is survived by his mother, who lives in Texas, his father, who lives in Oregon, and two sisters, one in Texas and one in New Mexico, Culley said.


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