Burton served as a Technician Fourth Grade, 31st Signal Construction Battalion, U.S. Army during World War II.
He resided in Columbia County, New York prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on November 5, 1942 in Albany, New York. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a mechanic and also as Single, without dependents.
Burton was a passenger on the H.M.T. Rohna.
The Rohna and four other troop ships left Oran in French Algeria with cargo and troops. Off Béjaïa, Algeria the convoy was attacked by an estimated 60 German Luftwaffe Heinkel 177's. One of the 177's, piloted by Hans Dochtermann, released a glide bomb that hit Rohna on her port side and she eventually sank.
1,138 men were killed, including 1,015 U.S. personnel. The attack is the largest loss of US troops at sea due to enemy action in a single incident. 35 U.S. troops of the 2,000 originally embarked later died of wounds.
Burton was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war.
He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 12172023
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
He resided in Columbia County, New York prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on November 5, 1942 in Albany, New York. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a mechanic and also as Single, without dependents.
Burton was a passenger on the H.M.T. Rohna.
The Rohna and four other troop ships left Oran in French Algeria with cargo and troops. Off Béjaïa, Algeria the convoy was attacked by an estimated 60 German Luftwaffe Heinkel 177's. One of the 177's, piloted by Hans Dochtermann, released a glide bomb that hit Rohna on her port side and she eventually sank.
1,138 men were killed, including 1,015 U.S. personnel. The attack is the largest loss of US troops at sea due to enemy action in a single incident. 35 U.S. troops of the 2,000 originally embarked later died of wounds.
Burton was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war.
He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 12172023
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
Burton served as a Technician Fourth Grade, 31st Signal Construction Battalion, U.S. Army during World War II.
He resided in Columbia County, New York prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on November 5, 1942 in Albany, New York. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a mechanic and also as Single, without dependents.
Burton was a passenger on the H.M.T. Rohna.
The Rohna and four other troop ships left Oran in French Algeria with cargo and troops. Off Béjaïa, Algeria the convoy was attacked by an estimated 60 German Luftwaffe Heinkel 177's. One of the 177's, piloted by Hans Dochtermann, released a glide bomb that hit Rohna on her port side and she eventually sank.
1,138 men were killed, including 1,015 U.S. personnel. The attack is the largest loss of US troops at sea due to enemy action in a single incident. 35 U.S. troops of the 2,000 originally embarked later died of wounds.
Burton was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war.
He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 12172023
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
He resided in Columbia County, New York prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on November 5, 1942 in Albany, New York. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a mechanic and also as Single, without dependents.
Burton was a passenger on the H.M.T. Rohna.
The Rohna and four other troop ships left Oran in French Algeria with cargo and troops. Off Béjaïa, Algeria the convoy was attacked by an estimated 60 German Luftwaffe Heinkel 177's. One of the 177's, piloted by Hans Dochtermann, released a glide bomb that hit Rohna on her port side and she eventually sank.
1,138 men were killed, including 1,015 U.S. personnel. The attack is the largest loss of US troops at sea due to enemy action in a single incident. 35 U.S. troops of the 2,000 originally embarked later died of wounds.
Burton was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war.
He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 12172023
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
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Records on Ancestry
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U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S., Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949
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U.S., Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Unaccounted-for Remains, Group B (Unrecoverable), 1941-1975
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U.S., World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas
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U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946
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