  We argue that the bursting, transient X-ray source GRO J1744-28 is a binary
consisting of a very low-mass ($M \approx 0.2 M_\sun$), highly evolved giant
star that is transferring mass by Roche lobe overflow onto a high-mass ($M
\approx 1.8 M_\sun$) neutron star. We explore a picture in which the bursts are
due to thermonuclear flashes in matter that has accreted onto the neutron star.
We attribute the unusually hard spectra of the bursts and the high burst rate
compared to normal Type I X-ray burst sources -- indeed the existence of
unstable nuclear burning itself -- to the unusually strong surface magnetic
field, $ B_s \approx 1 \times 10^{13}$ G, of the neutron star.
