IRAQ DEATH Family is told of bravery before soldier was killed

Other soldiers told his wife he saved three people.
CANTON (AP) -- Relatives of an Ohio soldier killed in Iraq were told he saved the lives of several others when he fired at a truck hurtling toward an Army checkpoint, they said.
Pfc. Jesse Buryj, 21, of Canton, died Wednesday. He fired more than 400 rounds at a dump truck trying to crash the checkpoint near Karbala, the Department of Defense said.
An Army sergeant told the family that he shot the driver of the truck that then crashed into the Humvee in which he was riding, said his mother, Peggy Buryj. His mother said he later died of internal injuries from the crash.
Buryj was with the 66th Military Police Company at Fort Lewis, Wash., in October when he married his high school sweetheart, Amber Tichenor.
Last contact
Amber Buryj said she last heard from her husband April 28. She was hoping to hear from him again soon, since his calls often came about a week apart. But the calls she received from Iraq, after the Army informed her that her husband had been killed, have come from his fellow soldiers.
"He saved three people," she said she was told. "Two of his teammates and another soldier. One of them has a 2-year-old daughter, and another one has a baby on the way."
The couple met as members of the marching band at Canton McKinley High School. Their band director performed the marriage ceremony.
She said some soldiers told her that his sleeping area in Iraq was decorated with photographs of her and an autographed picture she sent him of football player Mike Doss, a standout at Canton McKinley High School and Ohio State University now with the Indianapolis Colts.
Jesse Buryj also was a member of the Canton City Police Youth Corps before he joined the Army during his senior year.
His mother said he wanted to be a military police officer so he could become a Canton police officer.
Army representatives called the family to help set up a full military funeral, although arrangements weren't completed as of Thursday night. A candlelight vigil in memory of Buryj is being planned for Saturday night.