This is a work in progress, patience please. 
I am the daughter of Pvt. Harold M. Burke.



WWII ~ 2nd Division ~ Co B ~ 9th Infantry



animated USA flag     
image of the patch for the 2nd Division WWII
     
animates US Army flag



Pvt. Burke One Of Two Wounded
In "Heartbreak Crossroads" Fight


 
Pvt. Harold M. Burke, husband of Mrs. Gertrude Burke of 718 - 13th street 
and son of S. Burke of 2825 16th street, was one of two men wounded in 
the heroic battle of "Heartbreak Crossroads" staged by the Second Infantry 
division. Pvt. Burke, who received the Purple Heart and the Infantry Combat 
medal for action in that battle is now in a hospital in England. He has 
been in the service since Jan. 28, 1943 and has been over seas about six 
months.

"Stars And Stripes" Account


An account of the battle, as published in "Stars and Stripes," follows:

"They called it Heartbreak Crossroads. It was a 24 pillbox chunk of the 
Siegfried line in the Monschau sector, and for four days of bitter cold 
weather the Ninth infantry regiment battered against its guns and wire 
and steel. Thirteen doughs finally cut a path through acres of barbed wire, 
fought their way into a communications trench directly linking two key 
pillboxes and for five nightmare hours stood off both forces to help make 
possible the eventual capture of the position. 

"Twenty-four hours after the crossroads was taken the Wehrmacht began its
winter offensive and the regiment had to leave its expensively-won 
pillboxes to help halt the breakthrough.

"On the morning of Dec. 13 the Ninth jumped off against the solid belt of 
Siegfried fortifications. Halted by multiple-covered expanses of twisted 
barbed wire, the regiment sent out 10 men. They crawled through a 40-yard 
belt of concertina wire in two layers six feet high, under the machine gun 
fire and flanked by minefields. They lost one man before they scrambled 
into the zigzag communications trench directly under the guns of two 
pillboxes.

Nazi Ruse Thwarted


"Under cover of the first group of men, another group of six men started 
out to cut wire. Two were wounded (including Pvt. Burke), but two others 
opened a four-foot gap all across the field and joined the first group in 
the trench. "During the next five hours, the Yanks beat off a patrol from 
the pillbox on their right, thwarted a Nazi ruse to capture them through a 
proposed truce parley, smashed a counterattack from the woods beyond them, 
beat off a charge from the pillbox on their left and withstood continued 
fire from both pillboxes and from other supporting positions. They lost two 
dead and two wounded, but when darkness fell, they could go back to the 
regiment and report the wire cut.

"After an artillery barrage of 48 hours, the regiment's assault force went 
through the wire and smashed the pillboxes. Hours later the German winter
push started, and they left the place and called it Heartbreak Crossroads."
scanned copy of the newspaper article Heartbreak Crossroads   scanned copy of the newspaper article Heartbreak Crossroads

Click here for the article as one long piece.

picture of the purple heart medal   picture of the infantry combat badge
divider bar of gold military stars
 

 
Note: judging from what is on the back of this article, I am 
assuming it came from the Port Arthur News. But then I cut the 
article out and don't remember that being the case. 

Also as an added note: I received some information that states
that these guys uniforms were frozen and they nearly froze from
the cold and the snow at that time of year in Germany. This 
information can also be found in a WWII books that include 
more information about Heartbreak Crossroads.

Daddy Burke was a real war hero. He went to his grave with shrapnel
still in his heart. Can you imagine the pain he had to endure his 
entire lifetime? He died at age 59 of a heart attack. Continue
through these pages for his Memorial page.

My brother, Ronnie, and I consider ourselves fortunate to have had 
two fathers: Charlie Bigler and Harold Burke. Visit Charlie's pages
too please. 

My brother, Ronnie, sent me this email. I cried when I read it.



Gertrude (Mother) 

Carolyn (me)

Harold (Daddy)

Ronnie (brother)

picture of mother, me, daddy in uniform and Ronnie



 


 



"Can't add much at this time without some research. 
I can say that everyone needs to read the Stars and 
Stripes essay of the circumstances and bravery of 
the 16 men that were sent to cut the wire and make 
it possible for the events to unfold. Two killed, two
wounded but able to make it back and report the fence
line had been severed. Our Dad Harold being one of 
the wounded and able to return could only make Camp
Fannin proud to have had a part in preparing him for 
what was ahead. 

He was a member of without a doubt 
the Greatest generation. 

He always chose to do whatever was better for the people
in his life even if it was at a great sacrifice for 
himself. Not a movie star, not a sports star just one 
of the thousands of true American heroes that did what 
they were sent to do to protect the rights and freedom 
of generations to come. He lives on thru his son, 
daughter, grandsons and grand daughters that, because 
of the wounds received made his life difficult to be 
normal, he chose a way to make their lives better." 


These pages are linked in the Camp Fannin website. 
They have built a webpage for Daddy Burke. Exciting, yes?!

The next page has a photo taken at Camp Fannin - Tyler, Texas on 
April 13, 1944. It is Co 54A. Hopefully some people will recognize 
a relative in the photo. I scanned it in 4 sections and pieced it
together. I had copies made by a photography shop. The actual photo
is about 12 inches by 36 inches. It's large. The memorial page
follows the Camp Fannin page.



divider bar of gold military stars



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