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| Cpl. Walter Burak served in the 1st Marine Raider Battalion on Guadalcanal and earned the Navy Cross. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56116728/walter-john-burak https://marines.togetherweserved.com/usmc/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=BattleMemoryExt&ID=211390 |
Walter John Burak never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on October 25, 1919 in Pennsylvania. I was not able to find information about his father Anthony, his mother, or any of his siblings. I did learn that he graduated from Greensburg High School in 1939.
Walter volunteered for the US Marines on November 25, 1940. He became a corporal in the HQ Company, 1st Marine Raider Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, were he served as a runner for the battalion commander. The 1st MRB was created in February 1942, patterned after the British Commando units. The original marines in the unit were all handpicked from volunteers.
The 1st MRB first saw action when it helped to take Tulagi on August 7, 1942. Next it was assigned to protect Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.
On September 8 Cpl. Burak volunteered to deliver a much needed radio to the battalion commander, despite risking exposure to enemy artillery fire.
During the night of September 13-14, the 1st MRB played an important role in defeating a major effort of the Japanese to break through and recapture the airfield in what became known as the Battle of Edson's Ridge. They were low on ammunition but still managed to repel the Japanese throughout the night. The Japanese lost three-fourths of their officers and more than a thousand killed and wounded. The Marines stopped one of the best chances the Japanese had to turn the Guadalcanal campaign in their favor. Cpl. Burak played a crucial role in the battle by making sure the communication lines stayed open to the forward observation post. Without this link, much needed artillery support that contributed to the victory would not have been possible. It required continually exposing himself to enemy mortar, rifle, and machine gun fire.
Between October 6 and October 9 the Marines crossed the Matanikau River to attack newly landed Japanese forces. Cpl. Burak was killed on October 8, 1942.
In January 1943, Cpl Burak's actions during the Battle of Edson's Ridge was posthumously recognized with the Navy Cross. He was also awarded a meritorious service commendations for his actions on Tulagi and his actions on September 8. The Navy Cross citation reads a follows:
Assigned as a messenger to the Battalion Commander, Corporal Burak, defying the extreme danger of continual hostile fire, carried messages to subordinate unit commanders along the front. With the telephone line running between points of vital strategic importance severed by enemy mortars, he skillfully repaired the break and then, with the assistance of a comrade, laid a parallel line from the Battalion switchboard to the forward observation post.
As the battle grew more furious and the enemy began to envelop the left flank of our position, endangering communication lines, Corporal Burak, alone and unassisted, procured a reel of telephone wire and passing through enemy mortar, machine gun, and rifle fire, personally laid a direct wire from the forward observation post to the division command post.
His gallant intrepidity and fearless devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Untied States Naval Service.
Thank you Cpl. Burak for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Walter.
Last year on this date I profiled B-29 gunner Jack Dangerfield. You can read about Jack here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Follow on Twitter @ww2fallen100
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
After the war, Cpl. Burak's commanding officer, General Merrit Edson, came to Greenburg and spoke at a memorial service for Cpl. Burak.
His grave is at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Last year on this date I profiled B-29 gunner Jack Dangerfield. You can read about Jack here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
Corporal Burak attended Greensburg High School, but he was actually from Bovard, Pennsylvania. His life is memorialized on the Bovard Honor Roll. Bovard has also named Streets after Walter and our other WWII heroes who were killed.
ReplyDeleteJim Saunders, Bovard, PA
https://archive.triblive.com/news/westmoreland-town-shows-appreciation-for-soldiers-by-renaming-streets/
ReplyDeleteWalter Burak had three sisters and one brother. His mother died giving birth to my mother my mothers twin died as well. Walter himself never married or/and had children. His nephews and nieces live on in his shadow. I am one of those nephews. Nicholas Mattesi.
ReplyDeleteNicholas,
DeleteThanks for adding these details I did not find. Would you like to see his story added to the www.storiesbehindthestars.og project? This nonprofit initiative has the goal of collecting the stories of all 400,000+ US WWII fallen in one easy to find location with an accompany smartphone app people where people can use the phone camera to scan the name of the fallen from his gravestone and get a link right there to read his story. don@storiesbehindthestars.org