Beacon July 2022

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Page 4A THE BEACON July 2022 Continued from page 1A the basketball team. Making the choice to serve his country was easy for Brett. Serving America was a family tradition: His grandfather, Jerry, was an army paratrooper. His great grandfather served in the United States Navy in WWII. Another grandfather served in the Air Force in Vietnam. He was only eighteen years old and still in high school when he made his commitment to the United States Army- it was December 7, 2008. Brett entered basic training immediately after graduation in May of 2009. After basic training, he was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division and was stationed at Fort Wainwright, Alaska- near the North Pole. He then transferred to Ft. Irwin, California for Desert Training. On Easter weekend, April 21, 2011, his unit was assigned to Afghanistan, on the outskirts of Kandahar. Like Lt. Fitch, his Country had called and he was ready to go. PFC Bondurant’s duty was to lead a platoon of thirty men and search for IEDs- Improvised Explosive Devices. Private Bondurant would Here am I, Send me! (cont.) carry a mine-sweeping device at the head of his platoon to locate the IEDs. This device was called a “mine hound” or GPR (ground penetrating radar). Some of these IEDs were constructed to be set off by a cellphone. Others would ignite after a person stepped on a pressure plate on the mine. When the person stepped off of the mine, the release of pressure would cause the explosion. Some IEDs were placed to destroy vehicles. Some devices were filled with nuts, bolts, and other objects to cause as much damage as possible. Their purpose was to kill or maim American soldiers. Brett believed in America’s mission and he felt that we were trying to do the right thing. Most importantly, he and his fellow soldiers believed in each other. As he walked into an area with his mine sweeper, his comrades would follow and literally step in his footsteps. Brett loved his job and he proudly accepted the duty to protect his friends and fellow soldiers. All of their lives depended on him. He proudly accepted his responsibility. Brett considered it an honor to walk shoulder to shoulder with the best and bravest men he would ever know. In September of 2011, Brett’s unit moved to an area on the outskirts of Kandahar, known as Mushan. Intelligence indicated there was significant production and placement of IED’S. They found cashes of guns, ammunition, and bomb-making materials. It was a dangerous mission in a dangerous place. In fact, on September 26, a close friend in a sister platoon had stepped on an IED and suddenly became a double amputee. On September 28th, PFC Bondurant’s unit received additional intelligence. A compound that they were searching that day would be a “hot spot”. Brett and his comrades entered the area with PFC Bondurant in the lead. He led them down a pathway through a compound with numerous mud huts. Like every other day, PFC Bondurant’s mission was to find the danger, remove the danger, and keep his fellow soldiers safe. In front of the doorway to one hut, with his mine sweeper in hand, Brett stepped with his right foot into a hole. When he stepped off there was a massive explosion and the mud hut collapsed. PFC Bondurant was knocked to the ground in a cloud of fire and dust. Amazingly, Private Bondurant did not lose consciousness. He did temporarily lose his vision and it felt like all the bones in his feet had been broken. It seemed strange that he was not bleeding. In fact, fire from the explosion had cauterized his wounds. Although he did not realize it at the time, both his legs had been blown off and the pain that he felt in his feet was a phantom pain from his missing limbs that he still feels today. Brett’s fellow soldiers were yelling for him. He could not speak because he was choked with debris and mud and blood. The platoon’s medic rushed toward Brett and talked to him in the chaos of the moment. But as the brave medic approached, he also stepped on an IED and immediately lost a leg. The explosion from this second IED caused additional burns and injuries to Brett. As Brett tried to speak to his injured medic, a third IED exploded and additional troops were wounded. A call was made for a helicopter medivac. PFC Bondurant and six other soldiers had been injured. Brett still had not lost consciousness but based upon the seriousness of his injuries, he was the first taken in the medivac. He was placed into an induced coma for the helicopter flight. He still did not know the extent of his injuries. Private Bondurant woke up nine days later in a hospital in Kandahar and learned that his nose had been split in two and that he had received serious burns. After six or seven days, he was transferred to Landstuhl Medical Center near Ramstein, an Air Force base in Germany. He did not wake up again until he was on a flight back to the United States. He flew home on a C130 with other seriously injured troops. He was still on a breathing machine. The breathing tube was removed on the flight. He remembered a nurse giving him his first solid food in days- a yellow skittle; it was a small thing, but he will never forget how special it felt. Brett was then taken to a military hospital in San Antonio Texas- Ft. Sam Houston. He was in and out of consciousness for days. In those brief conscious moments, he remembered always seeing his grandfather, mother, father, and his fiancé London. Each day he awakened and he learned that there would be more treatments. Each day it seemed that there were more surgeries on his nose, his arms, his shoulders, and his shattered pelvis. He was in a full body cast- burns and scabs covered his entire body. Due to the fog of drugs and his injuries, each day he had to relearn that he had lost his legs. After twenty-eight more days in the hospital, he was finally able to start eating and start recovering. He was finally able to leave with his family for a few hours and began feeling like a human being, again. He received encouragement from soldiers who had received similar injuries. He heard their experiences and he learned how they were able to cope and rehabilitate. Hearing from these mentors gave him hope for the future. Brett’s future life began again while recovering in Texas. He proposed to his wife London and they were married on November 5 in San Antonio. Continued on page 5A Sponsored by 2022 LAWRENCEBURG TASTES OF SUMMER JUNE 18 at the Lawrenceburg Civic Park Lawrenceburg Summer Event Series presented by Taste of Dearborn County 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. Food Vendors & Carnival Rides Kids Activities 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. DJ, Kids Activities with Cincy Circus, Petting Zoo, Hocus Focus Photo Booth & more Beer Garden 12:00 Noon - 10:00 p.m. Live Music STAGE SPONSOR 6:00-7:30 p.m. – Channel Kats 8:00-10:00 p.m. – Bad Habit FREE PARKING IN ADJACENT GARAGE • NO COOLERS www.THINKLAWRENCEBURG.com Get it All at www.goBEACONnews.com
July 2022 THE BEACON Page 5A Continued from page 4A Over time, healing progressed, and the swelling decreased. Months passed and he was fitted with prosthetic legs. This warrior would walk, once again. Since that fateful day in Afghanistan, he has rebuilt his body and his life. An organization called ‘Homes for Our Troops’ provides handicap accessible homes for injured veterans. Injured servicemen and women are given the opportunity to receive a home free of charge in any place they choose to live in the United States. Brett Bondurant chose Lawrenceburg because of his family and his friends. He chose our community because this is his home. And he came home to heal his body, he came home to calm his mind, he came home to restore his soul. He lives here today with his wife, 2 daughters, and a newborn son. He now serves his community on the Lawrenceburg City Council. Purple Heart recipient, PFC Brett Bondurant does not dwell on the limbs he lost, rather he remembers the kindness he found with the support of friends, family, and fellow veterans- Veterans like- P.G. Gentrup, Captain Bill McClure, and Luther Rice. When asked if he had known what the outcome would be, would he still serve, without hesitation his response is, “Absolutely!” He loved the men that he served with and he is proud of the job that he did. His only regret is that when he was hurt, he had to leave. He still wears a bracelet bearing the names of two of his friends who died when their truck struck an IED. Brett still thinks things may have been different, maybe he could have saved them if he had still been there with his mine sweeper. Over ten years later, he can still hear the laughter and the voices of the friends he lost. He can still feel the brotherhood of his comrades-atarms. He knows that it is now his duty to carry on for those who are gone. Here am I, Send me! (cont.) Seeing what life is like in a place like Afghanistan has helped him understand what a gift all of us have been given: a way of life and freedom in the United States of America. After all that he has experienced, he knows why the people of Ukraine fight, with everything they have, against an evil enemy. Purple Heart recipient Brett Bondurant stands proudly with us today and will never forget that “Freedom” is more than a simple word; “Freedom” is our most cherished possession. But American Freedom sometimes comes at a terrible cost that we recognize on the last Monday of each May. III. Remember the Dead “As surely as this day comes around we are in the presence of the dead … for 1 hour on this day when we decorate their graves, the dead come back and live with us…” -Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. 1884 Memorial Day Speech Over the past twenty-four years, we have joined together on Memorial Day in this place of honor. We have remembered the “Maine” and Pearl Harbor, we have lived through September 11 and the War on Terror, and have witnessed the specter of war rising once again in Europe. We have told stories of soldiers, sailors, and airmen from Dearborn County from all of America’s Wars. We have reached back into Dearborn County’s history to remember those who have served. We have remembered Privates and we have remembered Generals. We have been honored by the presence of brave servicemen and women. We have stood with and shaken the hands of our remaining WWII Veterans. Our gold star mothers ignited an eternal flame of remembrance. But on this day, more than anything else, we have remembered the dead. We tell and retell their stories, handed down through generations, to remind us of the price that they have paid for the United States of America. On Memorial Day 2000, we remembered Lieutenant William C. Ewbank-Eagle Scout, a graduate of Lawrenceburg High School and Indiana University. Lieutenant Ewbank was involved in planning the Normandy invasion in WWII. Ewbank, however, felt that it was more important for him to be involved in combat after the Normandy landings than to remain in ground support as an intelligence officer. He knew the actual danger our soldiers would face on those fateful days. He could have remained in safety, but he made the choice to fight. Before D-Day, Lieutenant Ewbank composed a letter to his wife, Maxine, for safekeeping, to be delivered in the event of his death. On April 19, 1944, he wrote: “I do love you, dear, and if I die, your name will be on my lips and your picture in front of my eyes… You will understand, I know indeed your letters have shown that you understand why I had to transfer to satisfy myself. I regret that it turned out fatally but it was a chance everyone took…some things are hard to explain, but I was idealist enough to believe in what we are fighting for and I was glad to get a chance to do my share. If I had known for sure that it would mean never coming back to you, I don’t know if I would have been brave enough to do it...” Lieutenant Ewbank’s letter to wife Maxine in 1944 This letter was given to Maxine, after her husband was killed by a sniper on July 31, 1944, near Saint-Lô in Normandy, France. Thirtyone-year-old Lieutenant Ewbank was also the father of a daughter, not yet three, and a seven-month-old son, whom he’d never met. Ewbank also composed a letter for this little boy. It reads: “Dear son, you will be a big boy before you see this. I have never seen you. That is one of the hard things about war. But always remember that there are worse things than war and one of them is not standing up for what is right and honorable. Don’t be Live music every Saturday at 7 pm afraid of being alone if right is on your side. Goodbye and good luck, son.” Signed: Love Dad. If we pause today and listen, we can hear the dead, calling to us from the past- a past before most of us were born; yet, we can still feel the pain left behind. They may Continued on page 6A 12oz. Wine Slushies - $7 2 for $10 on Fridays Complimentary Tastings Check us out on Facebook and Trip Advisor! For more events & information visit: www.atthebarnwinery.com Open Friday at 4pm Sat. & Sun. at 1pm 403 Walnut St • Lawrenceburg, IN 47025 (812) 537-2020 • lawrenceburgeyecenter.com SHOP LOCAL and tell our advertisers you saw them in The BEACON!
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Beacon July 2022

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