KINGWOOD, TX, US
U.S. Marine Corps
SGT, 3RD BN 1ST MAR, (RCT- 7, I MEF FWD), 1ST MAR DIV, CAMP PENDLETON, CA
06/08/2010, HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
Brandon Bury is described as a man with a big heart, big smile, big personality and his stature was big. Bury signed up for the military after 9/11. He hoped his experience might lead to service in the CIA.
Bury had been deployed twice to Iraq and volunteered to go to Afghanistan where he was a member of NATO’s US-led International Security Assistance Force. He was embedded with three other Marines training the Afghan military police when their armored vehicle flipped and he drowned.
David Hoke, who has been a friend of Bury’s since seventh grade, remembers him as ever-evolving and being a big-hearted guy with a smile always on his face.
Fellow Kingwood High School Class of 2002 graduate Ryan Tucker expressed his feelings:
Do all the good you can By all the means you can In all the ways you can In all the places you can To all the people you can As long as ever you can.’
– John Wesley
“This quote describes all of the values of Brandon Bury: unselfishness, happiness, bravery, confidence, strength. He was the bravest, most unselfish and most honorable man I have ever known. He was a friend that could bring happiness into your life during the most despairing moments. I will never forget Brandon and I will always miss him. Thank you, Brandon, for being you.”
In his last call home Sergeant Bury asked his mom to buy some colorful plastic sunglasses from the Dollar Store to put in his next care package with toys and candy.
“The Afghan kids love that stuff,” he said.