Kyle Hamburger
Bryan Castellanos
Anabel Rangel
Mr. Corona
U.S. History, Period 1
4/1/2010
King High Remembers
C.S. #: 11.6
ESLR: O
On Friday, March 19, 2010, we had the privilege of interviewing a United States veteran.
His name was Richard Burns. Mr. Burns dropped out of school at the age of 16. He enlisted in
the United States Marine Corps at age 17. He volunteered for the service in November of 1958.
“I was just bored” said Mr. Burns after we asked him why he joined the service. He said it was a
“wake-up call”.
Richard Burns joined the Marine Corps because he wanted something different for his
life. He wanted to go see the world, go to places he only had dreamed about. He wanted to meet
people in all walks of life. He ended up traveling all over the world. He travelled to several
areas in Africa; saw Rome and Niece, Italy, Vietnam and many parts of Europe. It was quite an
adventure.
Mr. Burns’ main duties and responsibilities during the four years of his service were to
drive and navigate Amtrak’s and Tanks. Mr. Burns was “lucky” to have been in the service
during peacetime. He was never in a warzone. He said, “The closest I ever got to a war was
when we were travelling up a river in a strange placed called Vietnam.”
During his time in the service he of course, still made time for his life outside of the
Marines. He had been writing to a woman all four years of his service. One day when he was
writing to her a fellow Marine saw the young lady’s picture and asked him if he knew her. Mr.
Burn’s replied “Well obviously I do if I’m writing to her!” The Marine laughed and said that he
knew her as well. He said “That’s my sisters’ boyfriends’ sister.” He chuckled and said, “It sure
is a small world.”
We proceeded to ask him if he regretted joining the Marine Corps. He replied with “no
not at all”.
He loved the Marine Corps and was proud of his uniform. The Marine Corps gave
him the opportunity to see the world and meet the people he dreamed about. He was treated like
a true hero when he got back to the U.S. He told us that if you have learned nothing today, know
that the key to living a good life is education; “In the future it will all pay off.”