By Nathan Oster
Rebecca Burbridge of Greybull has a soft spot in her heart for the members of the Wyoming National Guard serving in Iraq and is on a mission to show her support for them and their cause.
Rebecca has a brother, Bruce Burbridge, who is on his second tour in the Gulf, having recently earned a promotion to the rank of sergeant.
Her boss at the Greybull Family Clinic, Dr. Joel Pull, is a colonel with the National Guard and will be returning to the Gulf later this year.
Two other friends, Ty Brown of Basin and Zack Dalin of Greybull, are also over there, serving their country.
They’ve got guts they are over there, and I’m not, said Rebecca. I just wanted to do something for them.
Rebecca said she wanted to wear a pin every day in support of the troops, and got to thinking that it would be neat if she had one that featured Wyoming’s bucking horse. So she called the state to get permission to use it, got the green light and began working on a design.
The finished bucking horse pin, which is now on sale, features the American flag along with the letters WY ARNG for Wyoming Army Reserve National Guard, and the year, 2009.
They only allowed me to do 500 of them, which is fine, said Rebecca, who dug into her own pocket to produce the pins. They told me if I sell the initial 500, to let them know and they would get together another contract.
The pins are being sold for $5 and are currently available for purchase at the Greybull Family Clinic, where Rebecca works, and at MI SWACO, through Rebecca’s friend Dani Chapman.
All proceeds from the sale of the pins will go into a savings account at the Bank of Greybull. Burbridge said she hasn’t figured out how it will be distributed just that all of it will go to the troops.
If something happens to one of our guys, for example, this fund could help offset some of their bills, she said. Not all of it would go to a single person; it would be spread out.
Hopefully, nothing happens to any of them. Then we could divide it up for the different units, maybe for homecoming parties. Either way, though, it’s going to them.
To reach Rebecca by phone, call 272-8121.