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."
