Buryj, Jesse R.

Jesse R. Buryj

Canton, Ohio

Feather Location: Row Q, #16

Obituary from Akron Beacon Journal

Spc. Jesse Buryj, 21, of Canton, passed away Wednesday, May 5, 2004, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, serving in the United States Army 66th MP.

He was born on Dec. 7, 1982, in Canton, to Steve and Peggy (Merry) Buryj, and was a 2002 graduate of McKinley High School, where he played in the band. He served in the Canton City Youth Corps, was a paratrooper and enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school. He married his high school sweet heart, Amber Tichenor, on Oct. 18, 2003…

Obituary from Legacy.com

"Jesse R. Buryj was too young to become a police officer in his hometown, so he joined a military police company instead. The Army credited Pfc. Buryj with saving at least three lives when he fired more than 400 rounds at a dump truck trying to crash a checkpoint near Karbala in Iraq… He was stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash. “He saved three people” said Buryj's wife and high school sweetheart, Amber Tichenor.  “of them has a 2-year-old daughter, and another one has a baby on the way.” The couple wed in October and had only a few months together before he shipped out to Iraq. He had hoped it would be a step toward becoming a police officer. “That's all he wanted, to be a Canton police officer.” said his mother, Peggy Buryj, adding that to her, “My son was a police officer, always.”

Carver:  Suzanne Kristoff of Oberlin Ohio and carves with the Loraine County Wood Carvers

Wood:  Basswood