Ira Brownridge Jr.
Ira Brownridge Jr.'s Bucket List Dream
Ira Brownridge, Jr.
Ira was born in Queens, New York. He has three sisters, two older than he and one younger. Ira graduated from Jane Adams Vocational High School in June of 1996. In August of that year he left for Army Basic Training at Fort Benning. In December of that year he reported to Fort Riley, Kansas where he joined Charlie Company 141 as an infantryman. In March of 1997 Ira deployed to Bosnia for a six-month tour and in 1999 Ira left the Army.
In 2005 Ira left a job that he was very unhappy with and went back into the Army. He joined the 125th Infantry at Fort Dix, New Jersey. He trained for Iraq at Fort Dix. Ira also served in the National Guard out of Big Rapids, MI.
On August 22, 2006 Ira’s Company was sent to Kuwait where they had two weeks of preparation before moving into Iraq. Once in Iraq, his unit was based in Rustamiyah and operated in the Salman Pak region. On April 1st of 2007 Ira was preparing for yet another mission when he was overcome with the feeling… “that this would be my last mission in Iraq”. He even told one of his fellow soldiers that he had a bad feeling about the mission.
Later that day, he was shot in the head.
Ira’s patrol was caught in an ambush. He remembers being in the fight one second and on the ground with his helmet off the next while his Sargent was telling him to “hang on”. From that point he was in and our of consciousness so the details he has been able to organize, he did so from speaking with his fellow soldiers and some surfaced during his therapy. Apparently, the unit was having problems with the radio so the medivac was not easily executed. Ira was taken to the ‘Pepsi Factory’ and then moved to the ‘International Zone’ and to Balad Hospital. At the hospital they performed surgery and after two days shipped him to Germany. From Germany, he was sent to Walter Reed Hospital for more treatment and recovery. After two weeks at Walter Reed he was sent to Richmond for rehabilitation and then back to Walter Reed.
Ira was eventually 100% disabled by the Veterans Administration.
Ira came to Michigan to visit an Army buddy and loved the State… he stayed. Ira currently lives in Ypsilanti. He enjoys watching pro sports and spends his time volunteering with various Veterans organizations. He also spends his time serving on the Washtenaw County Veterans Affairs Committee.
Ira’s Bucket List Dream:
Ira would like to do a Michigan Deer Hunt and wants to attend the Army / Navy Football Game. Bucket List Dreams will make this happen for Ira. This Bucket List Dream should make for a great story and we urge you to follow Ira’s Dream as it play’s out in the coming months. You can follow Ira’s Dream here… we will be posting updates as they happen. You can also help Bucket List Dreams to fulfill the Bucket List Dreams of other deserving Veterans by donating or purchasing Bucket List Dreams Merchandise. Thank you so much for your interest!!!
September 20, 2023 Update:
This past Labor Day week, Ira went on a deer hunt… a ‘once in a lifetime deer hunt’. What started out as a statement about a desire to go deer hunting turned out to be a ‘hunt of a lifetime’ for Ira. The initial plan was to take Ira to the land of one our BLD Board Members to deer hunt. BLD made some contacts and was successful in securing a spot in the ‘Legends Ranch Purple Heart Hunt’. The result… Ira had the ‘time of his life.' One of Ira’s ‘Band of Brothers’, Drew Cummings accompanied him and shared the unparalleled success of this BLD / Legends Ranch event. The ‘Brothers in Arms’ had a life- changing experience. A heart-felt THANK YOU to Robert and his Staff at the famous Legends Ranch. They treated Ira and Drew like ‘kings’. The Legends, the facilities there and the staff simply cannot be explained in words… it was totally over the top!!! We could write a book about the whole experience be we will let the pictures tell the story.
We at BLD wish to thank everyone involved for helping us to celebrate this great man… Ira Brownridge. A man who has given way more than any man should have to give for serving his country.
