John was the son of M. E. and Ina Burns. He graduated from Garland High School and entered the Army Air Forces in 1942. S/Sgt. John Burns was killed on a bombing mission over Hamburg, Germany. He was flying his 13th mission. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Air Medal. Reburial services were held in June 1949 at the Rose Hill Baptist Church near Garland. Burial followed in Grove Hill Cemetery.
The following text, written by Carl W. Matthews, was sent to me by Charlotte Hardamon Coble:
"Few present day citizens of Dawson, Texas, will remember the Burns family that lived on Main Street in the "Frog Level" in the 1930s. There were three children: Durward, the oldest, Gene, and Harold.
Durward and I began first grade together, and remained classmates until the family moved away, probably in 1938. We began hunting together when we were nine or ten, and we hunted Battle Creek from the bridge south of the Wheelock farm to Grahams Park for squirrels and rabbits. Once, we found a small Screech Owl in a hollow tree near the old City Lakes. I took it home and it found a perch on the top of a window. Ima Jean Sellers, thinking is was a little stuffed owl that boys sometimes had in their cars, reached for it. When the little owl flew away in her face, she fell, almost into a faint.
We shot a beautiful large owl one day that, finally, tumbled out of a tree at our feet. The owl was not dead and looked at is with huge eyes. I felt so bad, I almost cried. I never shot at another owl.
Durward and I often sat next to each other at church, and, on "Thursday," sat together during the school chapel program. Little boys, sometime, inserted barnyard language to some of the songs, and Durward would "cut" his eyes at me as the words were sung.
I remember the Burns home as a welcome warm place after a day of hunting in the cold. The house was warmed by a wood fire, lighting was from "coal oil" lamps, and Mrs. Burns always had something tasty on the stove.
Durward and I lost touch with each other after the family moved away...That first grade class contributed many of its boys to all branches of the military. Two made that supreme sacrifice, both in planes shot down over Germany. Joe Freeland, Jr. and Durward Burns. We proudly salute them today."
The following text, written by Carl W. Matthews, was sent to me by Charlotte Hardamon Coble:
"Few present day citizens of Dawson, Texas, will remember the Burns family that lived on Main Street in the "Frog Level" in the 1930s. There were three children: Durward, the oldest, Gene, and Harold.
Durward and I began first grade together, and remained classmates until the family moved away, probably in 1938. We began hunting together when we were nine or ten, and we hunted Battle Creek from the bridge south of the Wheelock farm to Grahams Park for squirrels and rabbits. Once, we found a small Screech Owl in a hollow tree near the old City Lakes. I took it home and it found a perch on the top of a window. Ima Jean Sellers, thinking is was a little stuffed owl that boys sometimes had in their cars, reached for it. When the little owl flew away in her face, she fell, almost into a faint.
We shot a beautiful large owl one day that, finally, tumbled out of a tree at our feet. The owl was not dead and looked at is with huge eyes. I felt so bad, I almost cried. I never shot at another owl.
Durward and I often sat next to each other at church, and, on "Thursday," sat together during the school chapel program. Little boys, sometime, inserted barnyard language to some of the songs, and Durward would "cut" his eyes at me as the words were sung.
I remember the Burns home as a welcome warm place after a day of hunting in the cold. The house was warmed by a wood fire, lighting was from "coal oil" lamps, and Mrs. Burns always had something tasty on the stove.
Durward and I lost touch with each other after the family moved away...That first grade class contributed many of its boys to all branches of the military. Two made that supreme sacrifice, both in planes shot down over Germany. Joe Freeland, Jr. and Durward Burns. We proudly salute them today."
John was the son of M. E. and Ina Burns. He graduated from Garland High School and entered the Army Air Forces in 1942. S/Sgt. John Burns was killed on a bombing mission over Hamburg, Germany. He was flying his 13th mission. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Air Medal. Reburial services were held in June 1949 at the Rose Hill Baptist Church near Garland. Burial followed in Grove Hill Cemetery.
The following text, written by Carl W. Matthews, was sent to me by Charlotte Hardamon Coble:
"Few present day citizens of Dawson, Texas, will remember the Burns family that lived on Main Street in the "Frog Level" in the 1930s. There were three children: Durward, the oldest, Gene, and Harold.
Durward and I began first grade together, and remained classmates until the family moved away, probably in 1938. We began hunting together when we were nine or ten, and we hunted Battle Creek from the bridge south of the Wheelock farm to Grahams Park for squirrels and rabbits. Once, we found a small Screech Owl in a hollow tree near the old City Lakes. I took it home and it found a perch on the top of a window. Ima Jean Sellers, thinking is was a little stuffed owl that boys sometimes had in their cars, reached for it. When the little owl flew away in her face, she fell, almost into a faint.
We shot a beautiful large owl one day that, finally, tumbled out of a tree at our feet. The owl was not dead and looked at is with huge eyes. I felt so bad, I almost cried. I never shot at another owl.
Durward and I often sat next to each other at church, and, on "Thursday," sat together during the school chapel program. Little boys, sometime, inserted barnyard language to some of the songs, and Durward would "cut" his eyes at me as the words were sung.
I remember the Burns home as a welcome warm place after a day of hunting in the cold. The house was warmed by a wood fire, lighting was from "coal oil" lamps, and Mrs. Burns always had something tasty on the stove.
Durward and I lost touch with each other after the family moved away...That first grade class contributed many of its boys to all branches of the military. Two made that supreme sacrifice, both in planes shot down over Germany. Joe Freeland, Jr. and Durward Burns. We proudly salute them today."
The following text, written by Carl W. Matthews, was sent to me by Charlotte Hardamon Coble:
"Few present day citizens of Dawson, Texas, will remember the Burns family that lived on Main Street in the "Frog Level" in the 1930s. There were three children: Durward, the oldest, Gene, and Harold.
Durward and I began first grade together, and remained classmates until the family moved away, probably in 1938. We began hunting together when we were nine or ten, and we hunted Battle Creek from the bridge south of the Wheelock farm to Grahams Park for squirrels and rabbits. Once, we found a small Screech Owl in a hollow tree near the old City Lakes. I took it home and it found a perch on the top of a window. Ima Jean Sellers, thinking is was a little stuffed owl that boys sometimes had in their cars, reached for it. When the little owl flew away in her face, she fell, almost into a faint.
We shot a beautiful large owl one day that, finally, tumbled out of a tree at our feet. The owl was not dead and looked at is with huge eyes. I felt so bad, I almost cried. I never shot at another owl.
Durward and I often sat next to each other at church, and, on "Thursday," sat together during the school chapel program. Little boys, sometime, inserted barnyard language to some of the songs, and Durward would "cut" his eyes at me as the words were sung.
I remember the Burns home as a welcome warm place after a day of hunting in the cold. The house was warmed by a wood fire, lighting was from "coal oil" lamps, and Mrs. Burns always had something tasty on the stove.
Durward and I lost touch with each other after the family moved away...That first grade class contributed many of its boys to all branches of the military. Two made that supreme sacrifice, both in planes shot down over Germany. Joe Freeland, Jr. and Durward Burns. We proudly salute them today."
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