Ryan J. Burgess slain by sniper

HOPE TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A Marine from Michigan died while serving in Iraq, the Department of Defense said Friday.

Lance Cpl. Ryan J. Burgess, 21, of Hope Township in Midland County, died Thursday in combat in Al Anbar province, the defense department said. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force based at Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Burgess joined the Marines after graduating from Meridian High School in 2003.

Brian Lincoln, a neighbor, remembered his friend as adventurous and active. "We never went to the mall, we were always out in the woods," Lincoln told the Midland Daily News. "He always wanted to be outside."

Burgess knew he was in danger in Iraq, Lincoln said. "He told me the last time he came home that he knows he's not coming back."

Burgess's family has asked for privacy, the Daily News said. But his first-grade teacher, Billie Dush, told the newspaper after visiting family members Thursday that Burgess suffered a severe concussion and leg injuries when the Humvee he was riding in drove over an improvised explosive device about a month ago. He was awarded a Purple Heart and had been released from the hospital only about two days before being killed, she said.

"It's one of those sad things that hadn't hit home, but now it has," said Principal Dennis Stine, who was notified of Burgess' death by a family member. "We have a lot of students in the service."

From the San Jose Mercury News