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Marine Corps Pfc. Robert C. Burke, Medal of Honor recipient.
Episode 2718 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Marine Corps Pfc. Robert C. Burke and his Congressional Medal of Honor award. The featured story comes from The U.S. Department of Defense website and was titled: Medal of Honor Monday: Air Force Col. William A. Jones IIIs. It was submitted by Katie Lange, a writer for DOD News.
Lange, in her story, reported that When you’re stuck in a bad situation, someone has to take the lead. That’s what Marine Corps Pfc. Robert C. Burke did in 1968 when his unit was pinned down by intense enemy fire in Vietnam. Burke didn’t make it out alive, but his actions earned him the Medal of Honor.
Lange added this about Burke, he was born Nov. 7, 1949, in Monticello, Illinois, and lived with his parents, four sisters and two brothers. As a teen, he worked after school helping his dad build fences for area farmers. His mother told reporters later that he had dreamed of being a Marine since he was a young boy.
Burke made that dream a reality when he enlisted in the Marine Corps at 17 before graduating from Monticello High School in 1967. By the fall of that year, he had completed basic and individual combat training and earned the rank of private first class.
His first few months as a Marine were spent as a vehicle mechanic at Camp Pendleton in California. By February 1968, he joined the 3rd Battalion, 27th Marines, 1st Marine Division, as a machine gunner in Vietnam.
On May 17, 1968, the group set out again in the early morning, with Company I in the lead. As Burke’s unit approached a dry riverbed near a dense line of trees bordering the small village of Le Nam, they were ambushed by a large force hidden in the tall grass and woods.
Listen to episode 2718 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Marine Corps Pfc. Robert C. Burke and his Congressional Medal of Honor award.
