Lieut. Kevin G. Burke Memorabilia, Left at Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall, in Springfield, MO 7/10/15

Honoring a War Hero Who Deserves to Be Remembered:
At the Vietnam Memorial Wall in D.C., people leave personal mementoes by the hundreds. Yesterday, when I viewed the Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall here in Springfield, this scrapbook page had been left near a fallen hero's name. I searched his name online and discovered that this soldier, Lieut. Kevin G. Burke of Anita, Iowa, was a true war hero who had given his life for others. Burke was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest military decoration, as well as the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman's Badge.

He deserves to remembered. From the dedication in the second edition of Tell A Tale of Iowa by Don Doyle Brown:

"In the early dawn of November 20, 1968, near the tiny village of Tan My in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam, Lt. Kevin G. Burke of Anita, Iowa, volunteered to lead a rescue mission to attempt to reach several men from another company who were pinned down by enemy fire.

"Lt. Burke carried two injured men to safety and then charged the enemy fortification, again braving heavy fire to attempt to rescue a seriously injured man who lay next to an enemy bunker. As he neared the wounded soldier a single enemy shot found its mark and instantly killed Lt. Kevin Burke.

"At the age of 24, Kevin Burke, a son of Iowa, a star in athletics, an award winning public speaker, a graduate of Notre Dame, a man of many friends, and a youth whose future held unbounded promise, died the death of a hero in a foreign land while trying to save the life of a man he didn't even know.

"During his funeral on December 7, 1968, the anniversary of the start of another war, the whole town of Anita turned out in a solemn honor guard at a round the clock vigil to honor the memory of its fallen son. Later the Department of the Army awarded Lt. Burke the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest military decoration, as well as the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman's Badge.

"This book then, is dedicated to the memory of Lt. Kevin G. Burke, who, by the manner in which he lived and by the manner in which he died, proved he was a hero all the way."

My Ancestry Back to My Great-Grandparents

Ahnentafel format:

1 Kenneth Leroy HORN [That's me; this list also works for my two sisters]

PARENTS

2 Leroy Kenneth Earl HORN b. April 4, 1910, Douglas Co. near Girdner, Missouri; d. May 30, 1991, Richmond, Contra Costa Co., California[1]

m. 9/2/1933 Richmond, Contra Costa Co., California

3 Adeline [Rose Adelaide] COREY b. July 19, 1908, Hill Crest (now Daly City), California; d. Jan. 17, 1994, San Pablo, Contra Costa Co., CA[2]

GRANDPARENTS

4 Frank Eugene Horn b. Nov. 9, 1882, Shenandoah, Fremont/Page Co., Iowa; d. July 8, 1960, Pleasant Hill, Contra Costa Co., California[3]

[m1.: Anna Schmidt 9/20/1903 Watonga, Blaine Co., OK][4]

m2. [BCW] 7/29/1908 Watonga, Blaine Co., OK

5 Bessie Cleo Wharton b. 10/19/1889[5] Bosworth, Carroll County, Mo.; d. 3/15/1971, Martinez, Contra Costa Co., CA

6 Earl Councilman Corey b. Aug. 15, 1888[6] or 1889[7] Omaha, Nebraska; d. Mar 21, 1967[8] Santa Clara, CA[9]

m1. [MEM] Aug. 9, 1907, San Francisco, CA; divorced after 1930[10]

[m2. Harriet Venable Barker [Her m1 to Uddenberg] Dec. 6, 1934, San Benito, CA (b. 1/2/1891, CA; d. 2/17/1983, Santa Clara, CA)][11]

7 Mary (Mamie) Ellen Mylon b. Dec. 25, 1888, San Francisco, CA; d. June 26, 1978, San Pablo, Contra Costa Co., CA[12]


GREAT-GRANDPARENTS

8 John Henry Franklin Horn b. Aug. 12, 1861, Allentown, Lehigh Co., PA; d. Sept. 30, 1953, Yuma Rural, Yuma Co., Arizona[13]

m. [JMF] 1/12/1882, Sidney, Fremont Co., Iowa[14]

[m2. 1893[15] Anna Elizabeth Ward Haffey (b. 11/23/1856- d. 9/5/1925), Madison Co., Mississippi]

9 Jennie May (Jane) Fishbaugh b. June 22, 1862[16], Tiffin, Seneca Co., Ohio; d. 
July 7, 1890, Anthony, Harper Co., Kansas

10 William M. Wharton b. Jan. 1859, Ypsilanti, Washtenaw Co., Michigan; d. Frederick, Tillman Co., Oklahoma[17]

m. Aug. 4, 1885, Carroll Co., Missouri[18]

11 Susan “Susie” Frances Addis b. Mar. 1860, Carroll Co, Missouri; d. between 1920-1930[19]

12 Seth Ambrose Corey b. May 13, 1863, Illinois; d. Jan. 21, 1929, San Francisco, CA[20]

m1. [AC] Nov. 4, 1886, Omaha, Douglas Co., Nebraska[21]

m2. Elizabeth A. Unknown (1877-1945), after June 1909

13 Amanda Adeline or Adelaide “Addie” Councilman b. Nov. 1856, Welton, Clinton, Iowa, or July 1857, Iowa[22]; d. June 1909

14 Thomas J. Mylon[23] b. Nov. 4, c.1849, Roscommon, Ireland[24]; d. June 17, 1912, San Francisco, Calif.[25]

m. 1887, St. Patrick’s Church, San Francisco, CA.

15 Rose Ann Conlon b. June 22, 1870[26], Dublin, Ireland[27] d. Dec. 12, 1930[28]

---

[1] Birth, death and marriage documents.

[2] Birth, death and marriage documents.

[3] Buried Memory Gardens, Concord, Contra Costa Co., California.
 Obits., etc.

[4] (lic. date 9/18)

[5] (birth cert.; 1900 census says Sept., wrong); ; bur. Memory Gardens, Concord, CA

[6] (1942 draft card)

[7] (1917 draft card & death certif.)

[8] (death index)

[9] [SS# 545095363]

[10] Wedding License: 8/19/1907, with consent of Earl Corey’s father. Marriage Certif. (same doc.): 8/9/1907 (one date typo?). City and county of San Francisco.

Witnesses: Bessie Corey 22 Byington Ave.

            S.A. Corey --

[11] SS# 545095362

[12] Obituary. Buried in Sunset View Cemetery, El Cerrito, CA. Cemetery incorrectly listed as Berkeley in at least one obituary. Photograph of headstone by KLH.

[13] (death certif.); ; bap. 1861 Jordan Reformed Church, Allentown, PA

[14] [Fishbaugh Bible]

[15]  Ancestry.com family trees.

[16]  [6/22/1861 in Fishbaugh Bible]

[17]  1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1930 censuses [June Standley has d. Manitou, Tillman County, Oklahoma]; bur. Oklahoma. Middle initial poss. W.?

[18] Missouri Marriages 1750-1920 Index

[19] Censuses. (She’s on 1920 census but William is “widowed” on the 1930 census.) Addis & Bright Family Tree claims Death 5 Apr 1940 in Bosworth, Carroll, Missouri, but no doc and it disagrees w/ census.

[20] Funeral record and FindAGrave [Nov. 1860, Ohio in 1900 census. See problems.]

1910 Census

San Francisco

Ten years after 1900 census, Seth has a second wife, Elizabeth A. (did Addie die?), Earl C. is out of the household (he was the oldest); there are 2 new children, George & Myrtle. The 4 holdover children from the 1900 census have the same names and are all 10 years older, so these are definitely the same kids.

But here’s the problem. A bunch of info is different from the 1900 census:

Seth should be 50; but he’s 44. His parents are listed as from Ireland and Mass. (instead of both Ohio). His birthplace is listed as Illinois, instead of Ohio. The four holdover kids are listed as born in Wisconsin (instead of Washington), as is George. Myrtle was born in Calif.

They are living in San Francisco, which is where Earl Corey and Mary Ellen Mylon met and married.

1920 census lists Seth (53 from Illinois) & Elizabeth (42 from CA) in San Francisco w/ 2 daughters, Myrtle (13) and Phebe (7).

….

Possible: Birth 1862 in Spring Rock, Clinton, Iowa

Death 1929 [http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/68798403/person/36191716314 Parents = Gideon C. & Mary Robts. No spouse or children listed.]

Find A Grave Memorial# 21284791 has Seth A. Corey b. May 13, 1863, Illinois; d. Jan. 21, 1929, California. Bur. Woodlawn Memorial Park, Colma, San Mateo County, California

With Elizabeth A. 1877-1945

[21] Actual marriage record says: "Seth A. Corey, Addie Councilmann [double N is prob. a typo], Nov. 4, 1886, First Methodist Church, Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska." The 1900 census says they've been married 13 years, which is correct. They had not yet reached their 14th anniversary when the census was taken.

1900 Census

Fairhaven, Whatcom, Washington

Corey Seth A: head, b. Nov. 1860, age 31 [bad math; would be 40], m. 13 years, b. Ohio, mother b. Ohio, father b. Ohio, occupation” police man, owned house (mortgaged)

Corey Addie: wife, b. Jul. 1851, age 42 [bad math; would be 49], m. 13 years, mother of 5 children, all living, b. Iowa, mother b. New York, father b. New York

Children:

Earl C b. Aug. 1888, age 11, b. Nebraska

Bessie A b. Sep. 1891, age 8, b. Washington

Grace B b. Jan. 1894, age 6, b. Washington

Frank S b. Aug. 1895, age 4, b. Washington

Ross T b. June 1897, age 2, b. Washington

[22]  [1900 census] [AMANDA A., born Nov., 1856; died June, 1909.]

[23] Ellene Horn Reagan’s written notes from interview with Mary Mylon Corey list his name as John Thomas; other records reverse that. His name on gravestone is Thomas (see Find A Grave Memorial# 95957251). His son was named John Thomas.

[24] Place listed on all four of his military enlistment/discharge papers.

[25] Buried 
San Francisco National Cemetery: census and Find A Grave Memorial# 95957251. Fought in Indian Wars. His copies of service papers burned in San Francisco Quake and Fire, according to Ellene Horn Reagan’s written notes from interview with Mary Mylon Corey. His pictures were with Mary Corey’s sister Anne.

[26] (funeral rec.)

[27]  Immigrated 1874. This and her birthplace from Ellene Horn Reagan’s written notes from interview with Mary Mylon Corey.

[28] Following operation for appendicitis, she died of “ether pneumonia,” according to doctor’s statement.