thedrifter
05-11-08, 07:03 AM
Barracks to be named for Piatt County Marine
By Paul Wood
Saturday May 10, 2008
MONTICELLO – The Marines are naming a barracks for Piatt County's only Medal of Honor winner.
Pfc. Robert C. Burke, one of 13 brothers and sisters from Monticello, died on Go Noi Island, Vietnam, on May 17, 1968 – but only after saving his fellow Marines from enemy fire.
Burke will be honored at a dedication ceremony at the barracks at Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Va., on May 16.
He was awarded the Medal of Honor on April 20, 1970; his parents received the Medal of Honor at a ceremony at the White House.
At 18, he was also the youngest Vietnam War Medal of Honor winner.
His little sister, Marilyn Burke Barnett of White Heath, will be attending the dedication.
She remembers her older brother as "a rebel," and handsome enough to catch the attention of her friends. She says the rebel aspect helps explain his heroism.
Testimony for his medal described selfless bravery.
"Burke picked up his (machine gun) and led a one-man assault against the enemy. He never hesitated," reads "The Vietnam Medal Of Honor Heroes," a 2005 book by Edward Murphy.
"He raced to a waist-high bank and sent burst after burst of machine gun fire into the Viet Cong position. While he kept the enemy pinned down, other Marines moved the wounded to safety.
"When his own weapon jammed, Burke picked up another gun from a casualty and moved deeper into the Viet Cong area. In the meantime, another Marine fixed the gun, and Burke took it back. He then stepped into the open, firing deadly bursts into the Viet Cong bunkers until he was killed."
The six stories of Anderson-Burke Hall, named for Burke and an Indiana Marine, have 59,452 square feet of living space for 720 Marines.
Closer to home, Monticello American Legion Post 101 changed its name to the Hamm-Burke Post after Burke's death. The Monticello city park was also renamed the Robert C. Burke Memorial Park.
"He was a Marine for a year to the day," his sister says of the medal winner, who will stay forever young.
Ellie
By Paul Wood
Saturday May 10, 2008
MONTICELLO – The Marines are naming a barracks for Piatt County's only Medal of Honor winner.
Pfc. Robert C. Burke, one of 13 brothers and sisters from Monticello, died on Go Noi Island, Vietnam, on May 17, 1968 – but only after saving his fellow Marines from enemy fire.
Burke will be honored at a dedication ceremony at the barracks at Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Va., on May 16.
He was awarded the Medal of Honor on April 20, 1970; his parents received the Medal of Honor at a ceremony at the White House.
At 18, he was also the youngest Vietnam War Medal of Honor winner.
His little sister, Marilyn Burke Barnett of White Heath, will be attending the dedication.
She remembers her older brother as "a rebel," and handsome enough to catch the attention of her friends. She says the rebel aspect helps explain his heroism.
Testimony for his medal described selfless bravery.
"Burke picked up his (machine gun) and led a one-man assault against the enemy. He never hesitated," reads "The Vietnam Medal Of Honor Heroes," a 2005 book by Edward Murphy.
"He raced to a waist-high bank and sent burst after burst of machine gun fire into the Viet Cong position. While he kept the enemy pinned down, other Marines moved the wounded to safety.
"When his own weapon jammed, Burke picked up another gun from a casualty and moved deeper into the Viet Cong area. In the meantime, another Marine fixed the gun, and Burke took it back. He then stepped into the open, firing deadly bursts into the Viet Cong bunkers until he was killed."
The six stories of Anderson-Burke Hall, named for Burke and an Indiana Marine, have 59,452 square feet of living space for 720 Marines.
Closer to home, Monticello American Legion Post 101 changed its name to the Hamm-Burke Post after Burke's death. The Monticello city park was also renamed the Robert C. Burke Memorial Park.
"He was a Marine for a year to the day," his sister says of the medal winner, who will stay forever young.
Ellie