THE WALL OF FACES

My name is Kirsten MacCormick from Radnor High School, and I would like to than this man, Don Burris, for his service in the war. It's awful that after all he did for his country he ended up not coming home, no one so selfless deserves that.

I am a current student at Radnor High School in Wayne, PA and we are currently learning about veterans who graduated from our school. Looking back at these brave veterans it is moving to see young men so dedicated to ensure people from my generation live safely and free. Men like Donald do not go unremembered.

On December 22, 1969, aircraft commander WO John H. Hunsicker, pilot WO Donald D. Burris Jr., crew chief SP5 Timothy A. Purser, and door gunner SP4 James E. Kennedy were the crew of a UH-1C helicopter (serial #66-00587) on a combat support mission when it developed mechanical problems and crashed landed. Official records differ as to the location of the crash. U.S. Army casualty and Joint Casualty Resolution Center records indicate that the crash was in Cambodia, yet Defense Department, State Department and other records indicate that the crash occurred near the border of Attopeu and Saravane Provinces in Laos, some 30-35 miles north of the closest point in Cambodia. Coordinates 152029N 1972941E are that location. The locality of YA678975, however, is undoubtedly Cambodia. It is possible that their combat support mission was in Cambodia, and the subsequent rescue flight took a circular northwesterly course around the mountains in northern Cambodia along the Laos border, circled back east towards Dak To (its destination). Some records pinpoint the actual location of loss at the beginning of the flight, while others record it during flight. Regardless, when the aircraft landed, Burris, Purser and Hunsicker had survived the crash, but they could not locate the door gunner, James Kennedy. WO Hunsicker and WO Burris escaped through the left cargo door uninjured. They found the crew chief Purser, who had also scrambled free of the wreckage. He had a broken arm. A search of the general area around the crashed helicopter revealed no trace of SP4 Kennedy, and he was not trapped in the wreckage. As door gunner, and at a position on the side of the main cargo area of the aircraft positioned at an open door, Kennedy may have decided to bail out of the descending aircraft. He may also have fallen, although this is unlikely since the gunners were generally strapped in to the frame of the helicopter. Minutes after the helicopter crashed, a recovery helicopter arrived in the area and lowered ropes with McGuire rigs attached through the dense jungle to the downed men. The survivors were not trained in the proper use of this equipment, and SP5 Purser fell out of his rig a few feet off the ground. WO Burris and WO Hunsicker remained in their rigs and were lifted out, and the helicopter started toward Dak To, with the two rescued men still on the ropes. Five minutes into the flight, Burris lost his grip on the rope and fell from an altitude of from 2500 to 3000 feet. The rescue helicopter continued to the nearest landing area. A search and rescue team was inserted into the crash site area and recovered Purser. The team searched widely for SP4 Kennedy, but found no trace of him, and concluded their search on December 25. No search was made for Burris because of the lack of positive information to pinpoint his loss site and the hostile threat in the area. [Narrative taken from pownetwork.org; image from wikipedia.org]

I remember bumping into Don at our dentists office on Midland Ave., in Wayne. We were classmates at Radnor and joked that we were both there so that the military dentists wouldn't have a chance to torment us during our early days in service. It was 1967 he was going over to fly helicopters...I was headed for a two year assignment in Turkey. Don was one of the most cheerful guys you'd want to know. When I learned that he volunteered for a second tour in Vietnam I wasn't surprised...it was just his way. I will never forget him.

MY POW-MIA FLAG IS DISPLAYED 24-7 IN REMEMBRANCE OF ALL THE LOST WARRIORS!!!!