In Memory of Spc. Taylor J. Burk

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IN MEMORY OF TAYLOR JOSEPH BURK August 26, 1983 - January 26, 2005

This page is in memory of Taylor Joseph Burk, US Army Combat Medic 1st battalion - 8th Cavalry. Taylor was killed in Iraq on January 26, 2005 by a roadside bomb. This was his second tour in Iraq.

TAYLOR, A HEROES STORY:

Taylor was a young soldier that helped save my brother's life in Iraq in April 2004. My brother, Spc. Joseph C Bridges had been shot twice and Taylor (a medic) had been in the humvee with Joe that evening. Taylor was also shot but continued to work to save my brother's life. Taylor convinced his commander that the only way to save my brothers life was to find a hospital. That meant going through unfamiliar territory at night. He stood his ground and my brother is alive today! The nurses told my brother that Taylor never left his side. They couldn't keep him in his bed. He remained by my brother's side until they knew he would live.

Taylor recieved the Purple Heart with cluster and received two Bronze Stars for his bravery.

Taylor was driving a humvee in a convoy when they came upon a powerful roadside bomb. To read more about it you can check out the blogs above from the military and newspaper articles.

Taylor was young and very brave. Many people begged him not to go back but he wanted to go back to be with his fellow Soldiers, his brothers. He told my brother that since he was too wounded to return that he would return for them both. Taylor could have stayed safe in the US. He certainly earned it. But he loved his fellow Soldiers and he loved his country too much to sit back and let them go on without him. When he went back they gave him a job away from the action. He was not happy with that. He kept pushing until he got a job back on the front lines. That was Taylor. He wanted to fight for his country. He believed in what he was doing and was willing to give his life for his country and he did.

Taylor, we miss you and we will never forget you. You were a true hero and we were honored to have known you.

Since Taylor loved my brother I will give you the story he passed on to us about my brother. He believed it was an important story to tell. He also played such a role in the events that happened that you can't tell one story without the other. The two men loved each other and had the utmost respect for one another...

MY BROTHER, A SOLDIER'S STORY:

This is the story told to us by Spc. Taylor Burk: My brother is Spc. Joseph Bridges, a US Army 1-8 Cavalry (Purple Heart) Soldier wounded in Iraq. He was the Gunner on top of an unarmored hummer and was shot twice once in the leg which blew his leg apart and once in the jaw which shattered it. We were told by Spc. Taylor Burk (the medic in his vehicle) that the men in the vehicle panicked for a moment. My brother shouted to them that everything was going to be fine, that they weren't going to die they were going to live through this. He told them all what to do and they all pulled together. My brother continued to shoot his gun on top of the hummer. All this while wounded and literally bleeding to death! When he had lost so much blood that he could no longer stand up Taylor pulled him down and while he lay in the back of the hummer my brother pulled out his hand gun and started firing to save his men. We were told by his commanding officers that he had 30 confirmed kills that evening. Later that evening my brother died and had to be brought back to life.

He would LOVE nothing better than to join his buddies back in Iraq. That would be his dream. He has been through many surgeries and is recovering. But he has a long road to recovery and won't ever be 100% well again. But we are blessed to have him here. If you ask him about his actions over there he will not talk about them and will tell you about the other men (especially Taylor) and their heroic actions instead. If you ask the others they will tell you he is the hero. This is exactly why they are ALL HEROES!

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!

Please do something to show your support for our Troops. There are literally hundreds of websites out there that take money, you can send letters, cards, packages or just about anything you can imagine. Find a way to show your support for them. They are putting their lives on the line for you every day. Do something to show them that you appreciate them!

Thank you, Nancy

If you'd like to meet my brother his Myspace URL is here: http://www.myspace.com/joelovestiff

If you'd like to meet me you can visit me at myspace URL here: http://www.myspace.com/nancy_jamies_wife

*WARNING* If you don't support the Troops or their cause you probably DO NOT want to visit my page.