Special Memorial Day Weekend Issue Online Only

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Memorial Day Issue Online Only

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Local Events This Weekend

Honoring Memorial Day

Memorial Day Weekend Festivities Memorial Day is this Monday and there are many town events scheduled on this long weekend!

Memorial Day

The Byram Memorial Day Parade will be on Sunday, May 30 at 2 p.m. and will start at the Byram Veterans Club. All are invited to march and light refreshments will be provided outside of the club following.

The Glenville Memorial Day Parade will also be on Sunday, May 30 at 5 p.m. and will run from Walker Court to the Glenville Firehouse.

American Legion Post 29 ceremony at Indian Harbor Yacht Club on Monday May 31 at 8 a.m.

The Old Greenwich Memorial Day Parade will take place on Monday, May 31 at 10 a.m. and will run from Sound Beach Avenue to Binney Park, with a ceremony in the park to follow.

The Byram Memorial Service will be held on Monday, May 31 at 10 a.m. as well, and will honor 13 alumni from Byram School who lost their lives in service. The memorial will be held in the memorial grove at Eugene Morlot Park.

And finally, the Jim Fixx Memorial Day Road Race will be held live on Monday, May 31 at 8:15 a.m. and will be 3.1 miles long. Pre-registration for the event will be online and will close on Saturday, May 29. Number pickup will be at Betteridge Jewelers on May 29 f rom 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and May 30 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Register at runsignup.com/Race/CT/Greenwich/ JimFixxMemorialDay5MileRun

SENTINEL SUBSCRIBE GreenwichSentinel.com/ subscribe SUBSCRIBER DELIVERY ISSUES & REQUESTS Thomas@maninmotionllc. com or call 203-515-2288 SUBMIT EVENTS Editor@GreenwichSentinel. com

By Jim Heavey

THANK YOU SCOUTS....Over 65 Scouts and Volunteers gathered in support of the American Legion Post 29 to honor Veterans by placing flags on Veterans' graves. Over 1,200 flags were placed, with guidance from Jim Heavey, ASM T35 and members of American Legion Post 29. Many thanks to Scouts and Parents, Pack and Troop Leaders who guided the Scouts with this project. Scouts will continue to honor our Veterans this weekend as they march in our community parades.

Don't Miss the Haring Exhibit

Keith Haring started to draw right away.

“My father made cartoons," he said, "Since I was little, I had been doing cartoons, creating characters and stories.”

In 1978, Keith moved to New York City to attend art school. In New York he found his style. In NYC when a subway billboard was in between advertisements, they would put black paper over it. Keith began seeing these empty black pieces of paper on the subway billboards. He knew that this was the perfect place for him to draw. He started drawing every day.

He said that when he drew, he drew in the daytime, which meant there were always people watching, from little kids to old ladies to art historians. Keith started to become incredibly famous for his work earning attention throughout the media including on feature piece on 60 minutes.

During a brief but intense career that spanned the 1980s, Haring’s work was featured in over 100 solo and group exhibitions; he was highly sought after to participate in collaborative projects, working with artists and performers as diverse as Madonna, Grace Jones, Bill T. Jones, William Burroughs, Timothy Leary, Jenny Holzer, Yoko Ono and Andy Warhol.

Keith Haring died at the age of 31 on February 16, 1990.

Since his death, Haring has been the subject of several international retrospectives. The work of Keith Haring can be seen for just another few days at VW Contemporary at 353 Greenwich Avenue.

Stubbs & Wooton Sale

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SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE Celebrating our closing weekend in collaboration with

Open now until May 31 Exhibition at VW Contemporary 353 Greenwich Ave, Greenwich, CT 06830 igifineart.com vwcontemporary.com

“TOGETHER”

ANNOUNCEMENTS Beth@GreenwichSentinel. com

Saturday, May 29th 10:00 AM—Veterans of Foreign Wa r s ( V F W ) P o s t 1 0 1 0 1 2 , ceremony.

SPORTS Paul@GreenwichSentinel.com ADVERTISING Peter@GreenwichSentinel. com; call 203-485-0226 STORY IDEAS Publisher@ GreenwichSentinel.com COLUMNISTS Columnists and community impact. Jenny at CommunityImpact@ GreenwichSentinel.com JIM KNOX info@beardsleyzoo.org LETTERS Editor@GreenwichSentinel. com CORRESPONDENCE PO Box 279 Greenwich, CT 06836 PLEASE NOTE Free copies of this newspaper are sent through the U.S. mail to rotating areas of town. These contain an envelope for subscriptions. The Greenwich Sentinel telephone number listed on those envelopes is incorrect. The correct number is 203-485-0226.

Memorial Day is the unofficial start of Summer, but it ’s i mp or t a nt to r emem b er the origins of this solemn remembrance: to remember and honor those who perished in war defending the United States.

While we appreciate everyone who has ser ved i n u n ifor m, Memorial Day should not be conf used w ith Veterans Day (November 11th).

If you visit Greenwich Town Hall, you can see the names of every service member from town who lost his life in the service of our country. The names on the wall do not just represent a fallen service member, but also the proud sacrifice of their family and their hometown.

O ne q u iet but i mp or t a nt tradition in Greenwich, lead by the American Legion Post 29, is the placement of small US flags on the graves of all departed Veterans in our local cemeteries the week before Memorial Day. What is especially poignant about this tradition is that the flags are placed by our local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

I would especially like to remember two Greenwich Police Officers who gave their lives while serving in WWII: Police of f icer Bernard McGi l lia n, a you ng, popu la r rookie officer hired in January of 1943, left Greenwich to serve in the US Army Air Corps as a Sergeant and was killed in action in the Pacific on June 5th,1945 when his B-29 aircraft failed to return after a mission over Japan.

Police Captain John Trufel, who was appointed to the Greenwich Police Department in June of 1926 and served many years as the commander of the detective division, joined the US Army at age 42 and was killed on May 8th, 1945 in Germany on the very day of Victory in Europe (VE Day) while serving as US Army First Lieutenant.

My Memorial Day Challenge to you is to spend some quality time with friends and family, but also to participate in one of the many Memorial Day events that occur in Greenwich over the holiday weekend:

Sunday, May 30th

Stubbs & Wootton is having a very rare storewide sale this weekend only through May 30.

A full 20 percent off for cutomers who come in and mention "TOGETHER"

Memorial Day Weekend Open Houses Memorial Day Weekend and the Unofficial Kickoff to Summer! The Real Estate Market is very active. Here are our featured open houses: 17 Open Houses; 4 on Saturday and 13 on Sunday.

2:00 PM—Byram Veterans Parade and Ceremony.

5:00 PM—Glenville Volunteer Fire Company & 9th District Veterans Parade and Ceremony.

Monday May 31st 8:00 AM—American Legion Post 29 wreath-laying and ceremony at Indian Harbor Yacht Club.

10:00 AM—Sound Beach Volunteer Fire Dept. Memorial Day Parade on Sound Beach Ave. 10:00 A M—By ra m Memor ia l Day Ceremony at Eugene Morlot Veterans Memorial Grove.

Far Away From all they knew, With hearts of pride And courage true, Vowed to serve As freedom’s light, And through their strength Our nation’s might, They gave all Our brave defenders, Where poppies lie, We will remember.

Author unknown

NMLS #763755

NMLS# 510513

PUBLISHER Beth@GreenwichSentinel.com Elizabeth Barhydt

Editorial Page

EDITORS & COPY EDITORS Editor@GreenwichSentinel.com Peter Barhydt, Daniel FitzPatrick, Stapley Russell, Anne W. Semmes

Memorial Day Weekend Memorial Day Weekend is upon us and a busy one it is. We are beginning to inch back to normal.

Beginning on Saturday with the Cos Cob Veterans of Foreign War ceremony and continuing through the weekend to the Sound Beach Volunteer Fire Department Parade on Monday, the Greenwich community will come out to celebrate, honor, remember - and barbecue! It will feel like a small town as we greet friends and neighbors.

It is a nuanced weekend. Its original purpose, less clear today than when it began in 1868, was to honor those who died in the Civil War. Three years after the War ended, on May 5, 1868, Maj. Gen. John Logan, head of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans, called for the establishment of Decoration Day. The Civil War was still fresh in people’s minds and hurt in their hearts. More Americans were killed than in any previous war. Decoration Day was to be held on May 30 - a date free of major battles during the war so as not to recall the horrors of a specific date.

Gen. Logan ordered his posts to decorate graves “with the choicest f lowers of springtime,” and urged: “We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.”

Indeed, more than 5,000 people gathered for the first observance of Decoration Day held at Arlington National Cemetery. It was rich with symbolism. The former home of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee had become a burial ground for fallen soldiers. In 1868, Union Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant presided over the ceremonies that included speeches on honor and healing as a nation. Afterwards, children from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan Home and members of the Grand Army of the Republic walked through the cemetery, placing flowers on the graves of both Union and Confederate fallen soldiers while singing hymns.

Memorial Day ceremonies quickly spread throughout the country, with state legislatures passing proclamations, and the military adopting regulations for proper observance at their facilities.

After World War I, the day was expanded to honor all who gave their lives defending America.

Finally in 1971, Congress declared the last Monday in May to be the official Memorial Day and a national holiday.

Today, we can all benefit from reacquainting ourselves with Memorial Day’s origin and meaning.

Men and women have died defending our nation from the time of the revolution until today. Each sacrifice was a son or daughter, and chances are very good that more recently they were a father or mother. Each leaves behind an indelible mark, a void that will remain mostly unfilled by their loved ones. The 19th century clergyman Henry Ward Beecher said of those that died in battle: “They hover as a cloud of witnesses above this Nation.”

That is a comforting thought.

What are you doing this weekend? Memorial Day is not a Republican or Democratic issue. It is as American as our flag. We should not shy away from its meaning, but ensure the next generation understands the ultimate sacrifice made by those of this generation and previous ones. We should go to the Memorial Day Ceremonies that are occurring throughout town. We should watch the Old Greenwich parade and clap with pride when we see our veterans represented. But we should remember we are not there to just enjoy those who march, we are there to honor those who no longer can.

So yes, enjoy the weekend - it is a busy one. Keep your eyes open for how our community honors all veterans, and especially those that made the ultimate sacrifice. We, here at the Sentinel, say “thank you.”

Oral History Project Blog Stuart Coan – Veteran of WWII

“There were many parachutists, American and British, involved with the crossing of the Rhine… The fighting was brutal. We had heavy losses.” Stuart F.G. Coan.

“Marching across France without winter gear, the US soldiers of the 8th Armored Division endured harsh conditions.”

“US soldier guarding thousands of German soldiers captured in the Ruhr area.”

Stuart F. G. Coan - Collection of the Greenwich Library Oral History Project.

This month OHP highlights an interview of Stuart F. G. Coan, a veteran who served in World War II. Coan was a longtime Greenwich resident until his death in January 2015. He was interviewed in 2013

by OHP volunteer Janet Klion. Her efforts were in conjunction with the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress whose stated mission is to ensure that “future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.” Ms. Klion’s other interviews of local veterans are included in the Greenwich OHP collection.

Stuart “Stu” Coan was born in Kashmir, August 1, 1923, while his family was on a summer vacation to escape the heat of Lahore. His father was with the International YMCA in charge of a major office there. The family remained in India until 1931 before returning to the states and settling in Princeton, New Jersey, where Coan’s father was head of the English-Speaking Union. After graduating from high school, Stu Coan was admitted to Williams College.

In his second year there, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps Pilot Training Program and entered into service early in 1943. But his stay was to be brief. He “washed out” because of poor night depth perception.

This was followed by other brief stints, one in an army program for radio operators, and another in the Army Specialized Training Program. His field was to be French language interpreter because of his coursework in high school and college. But this program lasted only a few months as well, having been “given pretty largely an axe” in the late summer of 1944.

Things then took a dramatic turn when Coan landed, literally, in the ground forces, where after training in Louisiana, he became a member of the reconnaissance part of the Eighth Armored Division. “Well, as you can guess, the reconnaissance was the first tip of the unit. We were out in front to find out where the ‘enemy’ was and then try and find a way either around it or let the heavier stuff following behind us deal with the obstruction,” Coan notes.

In the autumn of 1944, the 8th Armored Division was sent to England

to receive final instructions and training before departing for mainland Europe. What happened next was momentous. In December 1944, at the time of the German breakthrough at the Bulge, Coan’s division was rushed to France, without winter gear. “There was no place to accommodate us, so we were told to bed down,” says Coan. “Bedding down” meant rolling out a sleeping bag on the ground in the snow, trying to kick it away.

After patrolling in small groups along the front, the division was sent to the northern edge of the American army where the reconnaissance division relieved the troops, staying a few weeks before crossing the Rhine in the spring of 1945. “There were many parachutists, American and British, involved with the crossing of the Rhine,” says Coan. There was heavy fighting beyond the Rhine, and his division was involved in fighting in the Ruhr, a major military area because of heavy manufacturing there.

“The fighting was brutal. We had heavy losses,” adds Coan.

But this was a turning point, with many thousands of Germans captured. “At this point it was clear to the German citizenry that the war was getting near the end and that Germany was definitely going to lose.

We encountered pathetic clusters of men, well over normal military Age…They were poorly trained. They were scared.” And, according to Coan, they were glad “to surrender at the drop of a hat, or the waving of a handkerchief.”

Later, stationed near Pilsen, Coan’s unit was charged with welcoming General George S. Patton. Sent out to the airfield to greet the general, the unit created “sort of a U” so that his plane could pull up into the open end. “Well, to see him descend from the airplane, the spit and polish with pistols on both hips as he reviewed our unit, this was quite dramatic. He loved showmanship…Then we escorted him back into the city at sixty miles an hour.”

Coan completed his education at Williams and then earned a master’s degree at the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., going on to work at the State Department in intelligence research. He and his wife, Mary, later settled in Greenwich with their growing family where Coan later became a full-time fundraiser for the NAACP. This was taken from the original interview by Janet Klion, was written by Jean Moore. The transcript of the interview may be read at Greenwich Library and is available for purchase at the Oral History Project office. The Oral History Project is sponsored by the Friends of the Greenwich Library. Visit the OHP website at glohistory.org Mary A. Jacobson, OHP blog editor.

Finding the lost – and found – to honor on Memorial Day

This piece is a reprint from a column Anne wrote previously for the Greenwich Sentinel.

By Anne W. Semmes When Memorial Day arrives, the thought comes to get up close and personal with those in our town who have given their lives in military service in wartime for this country. I imagine going to a place like that wall of names memorial for the Vietnam War in Washington, where you can pass your hand over the names, and feel their sacrifice.

What I find in Greenwich a r e i n d i v i du a l p l a q u e s o f names in Town Hall, listed war by war, beginning with the Revolutionary War. That earliest war had recognizable Greenwich names like Knapp and Close. The Civil War had Meads and a Ferris. World War I had that famous pioneer aviator Col. Raynal Bolling whose statue overlooks Greenwich Avenue. Bolling was the first high-ranking American of f icer to die in com bat in WWI. He was a founder of the US Army Air Service which became the U. S. A r my A ir Corps in World War II, in which my father Thomas J. Semmes served as Intelligence officer, and fortunately he came home.

So it was that another pioneer aviator name jumped out of the World War II plaque - Wilbur “Billy” Cummings, Jr. He was a member of that famed Flying Family of Greenwich t hat to ok to t he a i r i n t he mid-thirties: Marion Engle Cummings, son Billy, and his younger sister Molly Cummings

Navy Lt. jg Wilbur “Billy” Cummings, Jr. prepares to take off in an overloaded SOC3 observation plane for what would have been the first leg of ferrying the new plane to England. A girlfriend Bunky came to bid him goodbye.

Minot Cook - still wonderfully with us at 99. “My brother was my idol,” she has written.

Billy had lived out his dream to travel to the Orient after Harvard, becoming one of the first Americans to visit Tibet in 1938 before he entered WWII in 1942 as a Navy pilot. His job was to ferry planes where they were made in Columbus, Ohio to England. He was f lying a brand new SOC3 observation plane that was overloaded with equipment when he crashed during takeoff and was killed.

That much missed brother put me in mind of another much-missed brother of our own Gloria Heath, who at 95 years of age carries the fame of being one of 100 women who have most i n f luenced

the development of aviation.

Glor ia ser ved as a pi lot of Women Airforce Service Pilots or WASP in WWII and f lew B-26 bombers used for target practice She was turned on to f lying back in college by her older brother Royale Vale Heath. “He was my hero, “Gloria has sha red.” Roya le was a China/Burma/India pilot in WWII when he was killed at age 28.

We have the Oral History Project (OHP) of Greenwich Library to thank for recording the narratives of Molly Cummings Minot Cook and of Gloria Heath. I have also had the privilege of interviewing these pioneering aviators, to learn more about their valiant brothers,

A nd t ha n k s to t he OH P we have the ex traordinar y narrative of Alexandra Clarke Spann (1903-1977) that brings us our wartime “found” story.

Spann’s father, John A. Clarke M.D. was a distinguished doctor in town, serving the Greenwich Pol ic e D ep a r t m e nt . ( E a ch year the Lions Club honors an outstanding Greenwich police officer with the John A. Clarke Award).

S p a n n’s d i s c o u r s e i s a fascinating walk down memory lane in Greenwich. It includes h e r te l l i n g a b out m e e t i n g Ernest Thompson Seton (ETS) when she was in elementary school. She would sit at the famed storyteller’s feet when in wintertime, at the “Armory”

on Mason Street, “he’d tell us stories,” like “Raggylug,” her favorite, about “a rabbit with a ragged ear.”

But her “most dramatic” memor y as a n element a r y student was when she attended a World War I memorial service at the old Havemeyer School for the brother of “one of our favorite mail carriers, Johnny L o c k h a r t .” L o c k h a r t w a s informed his brother had been killed, “in a division in Europe that was almost completely annihilated.” Spann, “just big enough to carry a small f lag “over her shoulder, was singing “America” and praying with the others when who should suddenly appear but the “dead” brother!

“Dead silence. You could feel

it. It pressed on you. Then all pandemonium let loose. People shouted, stamped, whistled, threw their hats in the air. Even the flags went up.” “ D id h e k n ow t h i s w a s h is f u nera l ser v ice? ” t he interviewer asked Spann.

“No, he didn’t. Somebody told him there was a meeting in the Havemeyer Building. He just walked in cold.”

P o s t s c r i p t : “A D o c t o r ’ s D a u g h t e r, p u b l i s h e d a s a n OHP hardcover “red book” in 1985, recounts in four separate interviews, what it was like, g rowing up in Greenwich in the early days of the twentieth century.

Local Planning: Calendar of Events MEMORIAL DAY EVENTS: May 30 2 p.m.

The Byram Veterans Association Memorial Day Parade & Ceremony – begins at Byram Veterans Club House and ends at Byram Library with a flag raising ceremony, followed by a block party.

5 p.m.

The Glenville Fire Department’s Memorial Day Parade & Ceremony - from Walker Court to the Glenville Fire House.

May 31 8 a.m.

American Legion Post 29 ceremony at Indian Harbor Yacht Club.

9 a.m.

The annual Sound Beach Volunteer Fire Department Parade – along Sound Beach Avenue, followed by a ceremony held in Binney Park.

10 a.m.

The Byram Veterans Memorial Day Ceremony at Eugene Morlot Memorial Park, at the Old Byram School.

JIM FIXX MEMORIAL DAY RUN: runsignup.com May 31 8:15 a.m.

Registration is open for the Jim Fixx Memorial Day Run - taking place on Greenwich Avenue. There will be no in-person race day registration or check-in - all registration must be done online. Runners can pick up their bib numbers and check in for the race at Betteridge Jewelers on May 29, 10am-2pm, and on May 30, 12-3pm. $35 per runner. https://runsignup.com/Race/ Register/?raceId=90273&eventId=455581 BRUCE MUSEUM: brucemuseum.org May 29 9 a.m.

Digital Weekends: Grow Your Own Seed. Watch Museum educators as they lead you in an online activity.

1 p.m.

Art Adventures: New Bruce Community Mural. In-person, drop-in program for children ages 4 & up. Free, members & visitors with paid admission.

May 30 1 p.m.

Art Adventures: New Bruce Community Mural. In-person, drop-in program for children ages 4 & up. Free, members & visitors with paid admission.

ST. LAWRENCE SOCIETY stlawrencesociety.com May 29 7:30 p.m.

Karaoke Night. St. Lawrence Society, 86 Valley Rd. Registration required. 203-618-9036.

GREENWICH FARMER’S MARKET: greenwichfarmersmarketct.com Saturdays, Through Nov. 19 9:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Opening Day (Order from Sunday to Wednesday for Saturday pick-up). Arch Street & Horseneck Lane Commuter Parking Lot. (Parking is free during market hours). (No dogs allowed). 203-380-0580. gfm-ct@ optimum.net THE MARITIME AQUARIUM: maritimeaquarium.org May 29, 30 & 31 1:15 p.m.

Marine Life Encounter Cruise. Aquarium Dock, 10 N. Water St, Norwalk. $31.50.

May 29 7 p.m.

Sunset Cruise. Aquarium Dock, 10 N. Water St, Norwalk. $31.50.

CONNECTICUT’S BEARDSLEY ZOO: beardsleyzoo.org Open from 9am until 4pm

MEDAL OF HONOR

Marine Corps Pfc. Robert C. Burke

DETAILS Rank: Private First Class Conflict/Era: Vietnam War Unit/Command: Company I, 3d Battalion, 27th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein) FMF Military Service Branch: U.S. Marine Corps Medal of Honor Action Date: May 17, 1968 Medal of Honor Action Place: Le Nam 1, Go Nai Island, Quang Nam Province (southern), Republic of Vietnam CITATION For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty for service as a machine gunner with Company I. While on Operation Allen Brook , Company I was approaching a dry river bed with a heavily wooded treeline that borders the hamlet of Le Nam (1), when they suddenly came under intense mortar, rocket-propelledgrenade, automatic-weapons, and small-ar m s f ire f rom a large, well-concealed enemy force which halted the company's advance and wounded several marines . Reali zing that key points of resistance had to be eliminated to allow the units to advance and casualties to be evacuated, Pfc. Burke, without hesitation, seized his machine gun and launched a series of one-man assaults against the

fortif ied emplacements. As he aggressively maneuvered to the edge of the steep river bank, he delivered accurate suppressive fire upon several enemy bunkers, which enabled his comrades to advance and move the wounded marines to positions of relative s afet y. As h e c on t i n u e d h i s combative actions, he located an opposing automatic-weapons emplacement and poured intense fire into the position, killing three North Vietnamese soldiers as they attempted to flee. Pfc. Burke then fearlessly moved from one position to another, quelling the hostile fire until his weapon malfunctioned. Obtaining a c a sualt y's r if le and hand grenades, he advanced further into the midst of the enemy fire in an assault against another pocket of resistance, killing two more of the enemy. Observing that a fellow marine had cleared his malfunctioning machine gun, he grasped his weapon and moved into a dangerously exposed area and saturated the hostile treeline until he fell mortally wounded.

P fc . Burke's gallant action s upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

HIS STORY W hen you're st uck i n 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.

Bu rke was b or n 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.

That spring, the G o Noi Island sector — about 15 miles south of Da Nang A ir Base that housed U.S. troops — was considered a haven for the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong. By early May, the 7th Marines were tasked with going into that sector to prevent enemy troops from staging a new offensive. Operation Allen Brook, as it was called, began May 4.

Third Battalion's Company I, of which Burke was part, joined the fray later that month.

Within days, their unit and several others successfully took over a major North Vietnamese supply stag ing area on the island.

On May 17, 1968, the group s e t out a g a i n i n t h e e a rly mor n i n g , w it h Comp a ny 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.

Fire from heavy mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons exploded on them. Several men in Burke’s unit were injured, and some were killed, including its captain and two platoon leaders. The heavy enemy fire kept other units from being

able to advance to help them.

Burke rea lized that key enemy points had to be taken out for them to advance and move their wounded. Without hesitati ng, he g ra bb ed h is machine gun and launched a series of one-man assaults against several enemy fortifications.

As he moved to the edge of the steep riverbank, he focused his assault on several enemy bunkers, which allowed his fellow Marines to move forward and get the wounded to relative safety. He then laid down heavy f ire into an enemy position filled with automatic weapons, killing three North Vietnamese soldiers as they tried to get away.

Burke kept moving, systematically quieting the hostile f ire until his weapon malfunctioned. He then grabbed a rifle and some hand grenades off someone nearby and kept fighting, taking out two more enemy soldiers.

When Burke saw that a fellow Marine had cleared his malfunctioning machine gun, he took it back and moved into an open position. He laid down a heavy line of fire along the trees until his injuries got the best of him. He died where he fell.

U. S. a i r a nd a r ti l ler y support helped more Marines br e a k t h r oug h to help t he stranded unit, and, eventually, the enemy retreated. Fifteen men from Company I died and 50 more were wounded. If it hadn't been for Burke's selfless actions, many more could have been lost.

The 18-year-old's body was brought home and buried in Monticello Cemetery in his hometown.

A f ter recom mendations from his comrades and commanders, Burke became the youngest person from the

The Liberty Bridge over the Ky Lam River and a partially collapsed bridge beside it are visible from the air. The bridge connected An Hoa and Go Noi Island to Da Nang, Vietnam. Marine Corps photo.

A Marine from 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, cautiously approaches a damaged hut during Operation Allen Brook.

The Viet Cong dominated the small villages on Go Noi Island in Vietnam. Marine Corps photo.

Marines from the Command Group of the 3rd Battalion, 27th Marines, help evacuate an injured Capt. Robert R. Anderson, who had attempted to reach the embattled Company I during Operation Allen Brook.

Marine Corps photo.

Vietnam era to earn the Medal of Honor. It was presented to Burke's entire family by Vice President Spiro Agnew on April 20, 1970, during a White House ceremony that honored several other Marines.

Bu rke's sacr if ice hasn't been forgotten by the Marines or his hometown. Burke Hall, a recruit training facility at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, stands in his honor.

In 1982, a park in his hometown was dedicated in his memory.

Burke's Medal of Honor is

on display with some of his other belongings in the Piatt County Courthouse in Illinois in what is now a shrine honoring him.

The Greenwich Sentinel encourages readers to let us know about connections they have with Medal of Honor recipients.

This article was written by Katie Lange as part of a series in which Defense.gov highlights a Medal of Honor recipient each week. It is our nations's highest medal for valor.

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Scouts And Volunteers Honor Veterans By Placing Flags On Veterans' Graves

Chief Heavey helps organize the placement of the flags. Charlotte DiPreta (Pack 23 Webelos) and Chief Heavey.

Lincoln Johnson and Albert Chin, Webelos from Pack 23.

Pack 23’s Christopher Cheung (Tiger) and Wyatt Chin (Tiger).

Kiel Oellrich (Wolf), Kyle Nickerson (Webelos), Devan Kumar (Wolf), and William Baker (Wolf). All Pack 23.

Pack 23’s Charlotte DiPreta (Webelos), Kiel Oellrich (Wolf) and Devan Kumar (Wolf)

Pack 23 scouts: Albert Chin, Christopher Cheung, Lincoln Johnson, Wyatt Chin, Kiel Oellrich, Devan Kumar, Charlotte DiPreta, William Baker.

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SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE Celebrating our closing weekend in collaboration with

Open now until May 31 Exhibition at VW Contemporary 353 Greenwich Ave, Greenwich, CT 06830 igifineart.com vwcontemporary.com