By Terry L. Page (Nephew)

I never met my Uncle Jim since he had lived the entirety of his life, before I was even born. I was told he was very tall, lean and strikingly handsome. My mother adored her older brother and Grandpa & Grandma Burr were extremely proud of him. My Uncle Jim was a Fighter Pilot.

First Lt. James Arthur Burr, 8th Army Air Force Fighter Command, 352nd Fighter Group, 328th Fighter Squadron (The Bluenosed Bastards of Bodney), flying a P-51D Mustang from his base at Bodney, Norfolk England was Killed-in-Action on July 18, 1944 in the war-torn skies over Zaschendorf in Mecklenburg Germany. He was 21 years old.

Initially reported as Missing-In-Action, five and a half long months of uncertainty would pass before notice of his death was confirmed by the German government and conveyed through the International Red Cross to the War Department.

Soon thereafter, the dreaded notification was delivered to a white two-story, Colonial-Revival style home in a well kept, working-class neighborhood just north of Fenkell and east of Wyoming Avenue in the city of Detroit. The house at 15369 Wisconsin would be replacing the Blue Star Service Banner in the window with one of gold.

He was survived by his young wife Kathryn Margaret (Joels) Burr, their 10-month old son James Stephen Burr, his loving sister Betty Virginia (Burr) Page and his parents James Wallace Burr & Alberta (Gray) Burr.

Missions:

5/8/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney (Aborted) 0.45 Oper Hrs - Field Order 331

5/9/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Juvencourt, France 3.40 Oper Hrs - Field Order 333

5/11/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Luplante, Germany 3.25 Oper Hrs - Field Order 335

5/13 1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Wustrow, Germany 5.45 Oper Hrs - Field Order 338

5/19/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Berlin, Germany 5.10 Oper Hrs - Field Order 342

5/22/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Brunswick, Germany 3.30 Oper Hrs - Field Order 346

5/23/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Lure, France 4.20 Oper Hrs - Field Order 348

5/25/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Marche, Germany 3.00 Oper Hrs - Field Order 350

5/27/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Pforzhein, Germany 4.20 Oper Hrs - Field Order 351

5/28/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Rochlitz, Germany 4.55 Oper Hrs - Field Order 352

5/29/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney Nord Point, Germany 4.50 Oper Hrs - Field Order 353

5/30/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Dannfeld, Germany 4.15 Oper Hrs - Field Order 354

5/31/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Gutersloh, Germany 4.00 Oper Hrs - Field Order 355

6/2/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Paris, France 3.10 Oper Hrs - Field Order 359

6/4/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to St. Quentin, France 3.00 Oper Hrs - Field Order 367

6/4/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Boieville 3.30 Oper Hrs - Field Order 368B

6/6/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Malo, France 6.00 Oper Hrs - Field Order 371

6/6/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Domfront, France 3.00 Oper Hrs - Field Order SDBE

6/7/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Varnes, Norway 4.40 Oper Hrs - Field Order 376

6/8/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Nogent, France 3.30 Oper Hrs - Field Order 377-2

6/11/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Nantes, France 4.50 Oper Hrs - Field Order 382-1

6/12/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to St. Aignan, France 3.25 Oper Hrs - Field Order 383

6/14/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Rethel, France 3.25 Oper Hrs - Field Order 388

6/17/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Bourron-Marlotte, France 3.40 Oper Hrs - Field Order 394

6/19/1944 Promotion to 1st Lieutenant 352 FG 328 FS AAF Station F-141 Bodney, Norfolk, England

6/20/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Ziesar, Germany 4.45 Oper Hrs - Field Order 402

6/23/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Melun, France 4.55 Oper Hrs - Field Order 413

6/29/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Neiden, Norway 4.50 Oper Hrs - Field Order 422

7/1/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Pontoise, France 2.20 Oper Hrs - Field Order 425

7/5/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Nivelles, France 3.00 Oper Hrs - Field Order 430

7/6/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Beauvis, France 3.10 Oper Hrs - Field Order 435

7/7/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Leipzig, Germany 5.15 Oper Hrs - Field Order 436

7/14/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Queret, France 5.15 Oper Hrs - Field Order 446

7/16/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Feldkirchen, Germany 5.20 Oper Hrs - Field Order 450

7/18/1944 Combat Sortie: Bodney to Anklam, Germany 3.05 Oper Hrs - Field Order 454

(Killed-In-Action during aerial combat over Zaschendorf in Mecklenburg Germany)

Initial Interment: Municipal Cemetery Zaschendorf in Mecklenburg, Germany (until the end of hostilities)

Final Interment: Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial in the town of St. Avold, Moselle, France, Plot E, Row 36, Grave 28

James A. Burr

First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Forces

Service # O-758764

328th Fighter Squadron, 352nd Fighter Group

Entered the Service from: Michigan

Born: 7-Nov-22

Died: 18-Jul-44

Awards: Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters; Purple Heart