Interviewed by:

Chase Comeau and Benjamin LaBranche

"It's challenging, but you get it done."

~ Dustin Burns (8:40)

Dustin Burns' Story:

As a young man from a small town in Ohio, Dustin Lee Burns knew he always wanted to be in the United States Military. Dustin followed in his father's footsteps by enlisting in the U.S. Army reserves at age 18. It was his first year at the University of Virginia, and he felt it was possible to balance serving in the reserves and his school work, only having to take time off for the basic military training. Dustin stayed in the reserves, until he was deployed into the Iraq War.

Dustin traveled by plane from Maine to Germany, then from Germany to Kuwait. While in Kuwait they gathered all of their supplies, and drove into Iraq by truck. In Iraq Dustin had to be prepared for everything, from IEDs, to sandstorms, to enemy combat in the middle of the night. Dustin played many roles in the United States Army. At one point he was a backup gunner on a vehicle, and he also helped the commander maintain the database. Dustin always needed to be prepared, so he was always armed with a M-1682. Luckily Dustin was never under direct fire, nor did he ever have to directly engage in combat. Dustin is most proud of the fact that he got through his service. He was able to get through the scariest and most stressful parts of his service by relying on his thorough training.

When Dustin's time in the United States Army came to an end in 2005, he felt fortunate that he was coming back with no serious physical or psychological issues. When Dustin was back in the states he took a few courses, pursuing his educational credits that he needed to transition to teaching. He taught in North Carolina before moving to Cape Cod around five years ago. Today Dustin's a teacher at Monomoy Regional High School, he teaches biology, and he loves what he does!