Burke Receives Purple Heart

REPRINTED FROM MARCH 14, 2006

McKENZIE (March 13) — Larry Dean Burke received his Purple Heart today for wounds he sustained in Vietnam on January 21, 1969. Major David Riddick of the Army Reserves had the privilege of presenting the award to Burke in a small ceremony at Carroll Bank and Trust-McKenzie.

Riddick, a Jackson lawyer and native of Carroll County, served in Kuwait with the 3rd Army, December 2004 to April 2005. He is a member of JAG - Judge Advocate General.

“I’m proud to have the opportunity to do this,” said Major Riddick during the presentation of the medal.

Mark Warren of Carroll Bank and Trust learned that Burke had never received his Purple Heart and inquired of his brother-in-law David Riddick how Burke could receive the award. Riddick submitted Form SF180 to the Army to successfully receive the award.

Specialist Burke was wounded in Vietnam from shrapnel from a Claymore land mine detonated by a North Vietnamese some 50 feet away. The mine contained 746 stainless steel balls, which wounded Burke and fellow soldiers. Burke, 20 years and a day old, sustained two broken legs, one of which had a compound fracture.

Burke, a radio operator, remembers setting off a canister of smoke so other troops could locate the wounded soldiers. A landing zone was cut from the floor of the jungle for choppers to land, recalls Burke.

He was transported to Saigon and then to Dunang for surgery. In 15 days, he was at a hospital in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, where he underwent a second surgery.

Confined to the hospital for five months and in body casts, he was told that his left leg would require amputation. He refused their recommendation and successfully walked again.

His injuries required 119 stitches in the left leg and 79 in the right. Today, he still bears some of the pain of his injuries and some of the stainless steel balls that penetrated his body on that fateful day.

During his service in Vietnam, Burke was also wounded by a direct lightning strike.

The Purple Heart is an individual decoration. It differs from all other decorations in that an individual is not recommended for the decoration; rather, he or she is entitled to it upon meeting specific criteria. It is awarded in the name of President Washington to any member of an armed forces or any civilian nation of the U.S., who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Forces, has been wounded or killed in any action with an opposing armed force of a foreign country in which the Armed Forces of the United States are or have been engaged.

The wounds must be caused by an enemy bullet, shrapnel or other projectile created by enemy action, an enemy-placed mine or trap, or concussion injuries caused as a result of enemy-generated explosions.

Burke was drafted into the Army on January 4, 1968. He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division when he arrived in Vietnam, and discharged from the Army on December 15, 1969.

Burke is a custodian/ maintenance man at the United States Postal Service-McKenzie, where he has worked 18 years.

He has worked at Gaines Manufacturing, Atlantic Homes, Ben Franklin Family Center, Ace Hardware, and Wal-Mart.

He and wife, Marilyn, have four children - David, Adam, and Chance Burke, and Teresa King, and two grandchildren. He is the son of the late James Burke and the late Nannie Mae Gaskins.