In Memory

Timothy G. Burchett



 
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09/22/15 01:09 AM #1    

Donald G. Nesbitt

i went to grade school with tim.  my memory of tim is he was the first one of my class mates to die in viet nam.  thank you for your service and dedication.


09/22/15 08:43 PM #2    

D. Larry Hill

I went to Madison with Tim and we used to play together as little kids.  I lived on Lincoln St and he lived on Post St a few blocks away.  He was a great guy and always full of laughter with a happy freckeled face.  He had a great basket ball set up in his driveway.  I will always miss you Tim.  Larry


04/09/16 06:53 PM #3    

David L. Elliott

I remember Tim with affection and the fun we had in some of our classes.  Tim was killed a month after I was wounded in Vietnam.  He was a decorated hero and I will never forget him.

Silver Star

 

 

 

Awarded posthumously for actions during the Vietnam War

 

 

 

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 8, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Private First Class Timothy Gordon Burchett, United States Army, for gallantry in action involving close combat against an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. Private First Class Burchett distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 29 June 1969, while serving as a Machine Gunner with Company B, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, on a reconnaissance in force mission in Kien Hoa Province. While following a path through a densely vegetated area, the squad was taken under savage attack by a concealed hostile force. Though the wounds which he received in the initial burst were shortly to prove fatal, Private Burchett valiantly stood his ground and returned devastatingly accurate fire, eliminating two Viet Cong and allowing his element to maneuver into a position from which they were able to scatter the enemy force. With complete self disregard, he advanced with the squad until succumbing to his wounds. Private First class Burchett's extraordinary heroism in close combat with an armed hostile force was in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 9th Infantry Division, and the United States Army.

 

 

 

General Orders: Headquarters, 9th Infantry Division, General Orders No. 10428 (July 17, 1969)


07/10/16 10:02 PM #4    

Dan McKinney

Thank you for posting this description of Tim's heroism, David. I don't remember hearing the details of his tragic death back in 1969 and was moved to read this tonight. I don't think there was anyone who didn't like Tim in high school. He was a great guy. My brother Tim (NC-65) was severely injured in the war, but survived and went on to a long career at the Veterans Administration. We are grateful to all of you who served during that difficult time. Thank you!    (Copied from response to David Ellicott post of 04/09/16)


07/11/16 01:11 PM #5    

J. Michael Blair

Thank you for posting the remembrance of Tim Burchett, David. I only knew Tim at NC during highschool, but do have memories of what a great guy he was and how I was very moved and saddened to hear he had died in Vietnam. While quite a number of our generation served in that war, including myself, I don't recall feeling or hearing the kind comments and expressions of support after returning from the war that I see so often expressed today.

While I saw many young men severely injured and worse while I was in Vietnam, I don't think there was any worse pain than hearing after returning home to the States of those good friends who died there. I still felt that pain today as I read Tim's Silver Star Commendation Letter... reminded again of the question I too often asked myself back then, "Why?"... "Why did this have to happen?"

I'm not sure whether the young men serving today, losing friends in a war they were blessed to survive in, are asking that same question. But I am convinced that our honest expressions of support for their service may go a long way toward preventing them from focusing too much on that question. Politicians make the decisions about when and whom to put in harms way, while those who serve at their request, those who fight and die are doing what they do for God and country.

Reminds me of the quote from "The Charge of the Light Brigade" poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Their's not to reason why, their's but to do and die." Yes, I looked it up, to make sure. But otherwise I would have written it as I remember hearing it often... "Ours is not to wonder why. Ours is but to do or die."

So for those, like Tim Burchett who gave their life for God and Country many years ago and for those young men who may die today for the same cause, I salute you all. And I say sincerely, "Thank you for your service to this ongoing experiment of a country we call the United States of America. You went when you were called and gave your all for what you understood was the right thing to do. Well done."


12/29/16 09:24 PM #6    

David L. Elliott

Time died in 1969.


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