http://forums.hannity.com/showthread.php?t=626533

Rest easy brother.

Our sincerest condolences to the parents, family, and friends of Sgt. Merlin German. May his will to survive, strength during his endless recovery, and creation of his foundation stand as a source of strength for all who have been wounded in service to our Great Nation.

RIP Brave young Marine.

Marine burned on 97 percent of body dies
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Friday May 2, 2008 6:57:56 EDT

Sgt. Merlin German had been struggling with burn wounds covering more than 97 percent of his body for nearly two years when he made a decision: painful or not, he was going to don his dress blues and whisk his mother away for a dance during a hospital ball.

Over the next few weeks, he practiced his dancing at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, with Norma Guerra, the hospital’s deputy chief of public affairs, Guerra said. And when the 2006 Brooke’s Holiday Ball arrived, he surprised his mother on the dance floor, taking her in his arms.

“There wasn’t a dry eye in the house,” Guerra said. “He had made up his mind, and he was going to do it.”

That’s one of many memories that friends and family have of German, 22, who died April 11 at the hospital, Defense Department officials said Thursday. He was assigned to 5th Battalion, 11th Marines and attached to 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines in Iraq at the time of the explosion that left him severely wounded.

His death halted an endless cycle of surgeries, skin grafts and doctor’s appointments that began Feb. 21, 2005, the day a gas-fed improvised explosive devise detonated near German’s Humvee outside Camp Ramadi, according to a Web site started in Merlin’s memory.

Family members described German on the Web site, www.merlinsmiracles.com, as a proud American who loved children.

“He touched the lives of everyone he met,” the family said. “He taught us strength, courage and unity.”

Guerra said even in the midst of all his surgeries, he went out of his way to brighten the days of others, encouraging fellow patients in the burn unit with lesser wounds to dress well and carry themselves with pride.

“He looked at it as he had received a second chance, and he wanted to make a difference,” Guerra said.

Before he died, German told family members he “had a vision to help burned children and their families,” the family said on his Web said. “He wanted the foundation to be named Merlin’s Miracles.”

Below received from a friend of mine, the operations officer of the Wounded Warrior Barracks, East...

My Brothers and Sisters,

I know there is a posting in Guarding the Gates about this extraordinary Marine. He will be laid to rest on Wednesday, 23 April. If you are near Bushnell, Florida, I will be there. If you get a chance Google this Marine or visit the website for the foundation he started, www.merlinsmiracles.com . I have been working with the wounded warriors for a couple of years now, but was never as inspired as being in his presence. He will be missed.

The latest I have he will be flown to Tampa Bay on Monday or Tuesday. On Wednesday he will be laid to rest at the Florida National Cemetery located at 6502 SW 102nd Ave., in Bushnell, Florida. The time of the burial is still TBA.

Semper Fi Sgt German,

Chris Hedgecorth
CWO-4, USMC