U.S. Army Spc. Antonio C. Burnside, a member of the Blackfeet Nation of Montana who was killed in Afghanistan, is being laid to rest today.

Burnside, 31, was motivated to join the military after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, his mother said. He served one tour of duty in Afghanistan and decided to re-enlist in 2010.

"Mom, I'm proud to be a soldier," Annie Burnside recall her son saying, The Great Falls Tribune reported. "There's a brotherhood that you can't understand."

During that second tour in Afghanistan, Burnside was killed killed by small arms fire on April 6. His body was returned to the reservation yesterday for his burial.

"There are a lot of things I've faced in my life," Annie Burnside told the paper. "And now I'm going through one of the greatest fears I've ever had — that's what I'm facing now. Nobody can understand that but another parent."

Annie Burnside said she's grateful to her family, the Blackfeet Nation and others for supporting her as she grieves the loss of her son. Chairman T.J. Show will honor Antonio Burnside tomorrow when he plans to ask for a moment of silence at a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs.

Get the Story:
Cpl. Antonio Burnside: Mother remembers her soldier who will be laid to rest today (The Great Falls Tribune 4/18)

Committee Notice:
Pversight Hearing on "Bureau of Land Management’s Hydraulic Fracturing Rule’s Impacts on Indian Tribal Energy Development" (April 19, 2012)

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Blackfeet Nation mourning for soldier killed in Afghanistan (4/10)