THE WALL OF FACES

My name is Justin Weir. This is my real name. I am from the state of Utah. I was born August 5th, 1989. What I have to say next is sincere and most genuine, and I take it most seriously with the utmost respect and reverence.

For the last few years, as I have developed more and more and grown, I have had recurring dreams of jungles, smoke, and conflict.
I have developed a habit of checking the Drudge Report everyday. When a few months back, I came across a link to an article which detailed the discovery of Mr. Burgess' remains in Cambodia.
The photograph of John shocked me, as it has my own brother and close friends, because of the closeness of the resemblance to my own. Even down to the structure of his smile.

If there is a member of his family out there who reads this, I would very much like to know more about him and his life. This would mean a lot to me, and I feel a conviction deep within me about him.

Please feel no offense or insult when I list him as my brother. I mean nothing disrespectful at all by this.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

No. 463-13

25 June 2013

SOLDIER MISSING IN ACTION FROM

VIETNAM WAR NOW ACCOUNTED FOR

The Department of Defense POWMissing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that a soldier, missing from the Vietnam War, has been accounted for and will be buried with full military honors along with two of his crew members.

Army Specialist 5 JOHN LAWRENCE BURGESS, of Sutton Bay, Michigan, was the crew chief of a UH-1H Iroquois helicopter which crashed in Binh Phuoc Province, South Vietnam.

Also, killed in the crash were -

1st Lieutenant LESLIE FORREST DOUGLAS Jr., of Verona, Mississippi

1st Lieutenant RICHARD DYER, of Central Falls, Rhode Island

and

Sergeant 1st Class JUAN COLON-DIAZ, of Comerio, Puerto Rico.

Another crew member, Private First Class JOHN GOOSMAN, survived the crash and was rescued.

Remains representing Dyer, Colon-Diaz, and Burgess, will be buried as a group in a single casket, on 2 July, at Arlington National Cemetery.

On 30 June 1970, while on a command and control mission, the helicopter was struck by enemy fire, causing it to crash.

Shortly thereafter, friendly forces recovered remains of Douglas, Colon-Diaz, and Dyer.

The three men were individually identified and buried with full military honors.

At that time, no remains were attributed to Burgess.

From 1992 to 2012, more than a dozen joint U.S. Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams investigated the case, in Binh Phuoc Province, recovering human remains, personal effects, military equipment, and aircraft wreckage associated with this loss.

Burgess was accounted for using forensic and circumstantial evidence.

(Photo Credit: Art Dembinski) Rest in peace with the warriors.

Remembered by his sister Peggy.

Viola Waukazoo was the birth mother of Larry Waukazoo.
He along with two siblings were adopted to the Burgess family in Kingsley.
At the time of his adoption, he was renamed John Lawrence Burgess.
He lived and attended grades 1 through 12 at Kingsley school
He was an athlete who played basketball in high school
And in the summers he was a camp councilor.
After high school he enlisted in the U.S. Army & fought in the Vietnam War.
His company was called “The Good Deal Company”.
Two weeks before his scheduled leave, he wrote his sister, of his plans to visit Australia again.
However, just before his leave, he and 5 solders were on a Command & Control Mission
Where John was the crew chief of the UHIH (Huey) helicopter.
Enemy fire hit the aircraft and the helicopter crashed & burned
near the CambodiaSouth Vietnam border.
The door gunner was thrown clear of the aircraft and believed to be the only one to survive the fiery crash.
He pulled one of the solders from the crash but the fire was so intense that he was unable to retrieve the rest of the bodies. He remained on the scene of the crash site until friendly troops arrived to secure the aircraft wreckage. The remains of the four crew members were placed in 4 body bags and evacuated. The 4 body bags were transported directly from the crash site to medical facilities located at Camp Gorvad, Phuoc Vinh, South Vietnam and later sent to the mortuary at Than San Nhut to undergo autopsies. At the mortuary, as identification was conducted, it was determined that they only had 3 sets of remains rather than four. While processing the remains at the mortuary, it was discovered that one of the body bags contained portions of the upper torso and another bag contained portions of the lower torso of the same individual. After the discovery, the bodies were combined and positive identifications were made of the 3 individuals, Douglas, Dyer and Colon-Diaz.
Than San Nhut Mortuary never received any remains correlating to SP5 Burgess and it was believed that the remains of Burgess were either burned beneath the wreckage of the aircraft or incinerated in the fire which engulfed the aircraft after it crashed. The mortuary suggested another search of the crash site area, but additional searches were not considered possible because of enemy presence in the area. When the final review of aerial photographs was made in 1973, there was no evidence of the crashed aircraft.
SP5 John L. Burgess is maintained with honor among the missing because his remains were never found to be sent home for burial in the soil for which he fought. His family grieves for his death.
In the 1990’s the Army requested D&A from one of his siblings.
His mother, Louise asked the Army to contact his sister Peggy.
D&A was sent but to this date, no word on if her D&A was matched with John.
He will remain forever young in the minds of his friends and family.
May he rest in peace.