I caught the reruns recently of American Rifleman's interview of Don Burgett recently, the first time I saw it I was deeply moved by Don's comments about the second amendment, this time I had my laptop with me and transcribed his remarks. Here is what I thought was really moving:
American Rifleman’s editor’s introductory comments:
“Men like Don Burgett actually had to fight for freedom, they watched their friends die, be wounded and horribly maimed…so when you talk about freedom to a man like Don, he risked it all, so we could have it.
Comments by Don Burgett:
“I cleaned my M1 real well and laid it on my bed and slept with it on one side, because you are married to your rifle. . . you marry your rifle . . . just ask a Marine.”
"We as the ground troops did not know how the Jews were being treated. But we finally came into concentration camp, complete with ovens and the whole thing and they were eliminating the Jewish people. I saw a group of Jews carrying a metal stretcher with a body to the ovens, I opened an oven and they were still going. The Germans did not put the bodies in the ovens, they had the Jews do it. The Jews were still dragging bodies. I told them to stop, “We can’t, they will put us in the ovens alive.” I said, “I am America, and America tells you to quit, now!” They said, “We quit, America has spoken.”
"I saw Jews carrying the stretcher and they were carrying a stretcher with a purple cloth over it carrying it to the river. They were carrying blocks of yellowish soap. I asked them what they were doing carrying soap on a stretcher. They said, “That’s people, they rendered people to make laundry soap. We are carrying them to bury them.” [Burgett begins to cry during the interview, at this point.]
“People here don’t go far how the Nazis went. I’ve seen things I don’t want to tell you.”
“People who are anti-gun, anti-this, anti-that, anti-American, they want to be dictators like Mussolini, but he was hung up by his heels. This is why they don’t want to have guns. They are afraid of an honest man, an honest citizen, a man who will lay his life on the line. I love it. It’s my second amendment. We guys with a gun were the only guys between us and the ovens. They still don’t understand. I’ve seen the ovens. They don’t know, but they can’t take our guns. If push comes to shove, we’ll be back. We’ll be back with our guns.”
God bless Don and all veterans like him.
American Rifleman’s editor’s introductory comments:
“Men like Don Burgett actually had to fight for freedom, they watched their friends die, be wounded and horribly maimed…so when you talk about freedom to a man like Don, he risked it all, so we could have it.
Comments by Don Burgett:
“I cleaned my M1 real well and laid it on my bed and slept with it on one side, because you are married to your rifle. . . you marry your rifle . . . just ask a Marine.”
"We as the ground troops did not know how the Jews were being treated. But we finally came into concentration camp, complete with ovens and the whole thing and they were eliminating the Jewish people. I saw a group of Jews carrying a metal stretcher with a body to the ovens, I opened an oven and they were still going. The Germans did not put the bodies in the ovens, they had the Jews do it. The Jews were still dragging bodies. I told them to stop, “We can’t, they will put us in the ovens alive.” I said, “I am America, and America tells you to quit, now!” They said, “We quit, America has spoken.”
"I saw Jews carrying the stretcher and they were carrying a stretcher with a purple cloth over it carrying it to the river. They were carrying blocks of yellowish soap. I asked them what they were doing carrying soap on a stretcher. They said, “That’s people, they rendered people to make laundry soap. We are carrying them to bury them.” [Burgett begins to cry during the interview, at this point.]
“People here don’t go far how the Nazis went. I’ve seen things I don’t want to tell you.”
“People who are anti-gun, anti-this, anti-that, anti-American, they want to be dictators like Mussolini, but he was hung up by his heels. This is why they don’t want to have guns. They are afraid of an honest man, an honest citizen, a man who will lay his life on the line. I love it. It’s my second amendment. We guys with a gun were the only guys between us and the ovens. They still don’t understand. I’ve seen the ovens. They don’t know, but they can’t take our guns. If push comes to shove, we’ll be back. We’ll be back with our guns.”
God bless Don and all veterans like him.