Senior Airman Michael J. Buras, 23, of Fitzgerald, Georgia was assigned to the 99th Civil Engineer Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The 23-year-old died during his third deployment on September 21, 2010, from wounds he suffered when an improvised explosive device blew up in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

SrA Buras grew up in Fitzgerald. He joined the Air Force in April of 2006. Following basic training, he trained as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technician at Eglin Air Force Base, FL and graduated in March of 2007. He served in the Air Force as a bomb technician. SrA Buras had already earned a Purple Heart in 2009, for injuries during a previous deployment.

In September 2011, Highway 129 in Fitzgerald was renamed Senior Airman Michael J. Buras Memorial Highway in his honor. “He died doing what he loved, and that’s what made him an American Hero,” said his father, John Buras. “Though he paid the ultimate sacrifice, one that we can never repay, we can always remember him for not only who he was, but what he stood for.”

He is survived by his wife and daughter.