Burgess, Burton Edward
Army Private 1st class

Burton Edward Burgess, age 33, from Oregon, Josephine county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, September 3, 1950
Death details: On September 3, 1950, the 8th Cavalry Regiment and the 2nd Engineer Battalion, both elements of the 1st Cavalry Division, were holding a defensive line between Tabu-dong and Taegu at the upper end of the Naktong Perimeter. Company F of the 8th Cavalry, defending Hill 448, was attacked by elements of North Korea’s 13th Infantry Division and forced to retreat to Hill 449, defended by Company G of the 8th Cavalry. The 8th Cavalry Regiment found itself cut off from its supply train and withdrew from the area to keep from being surrounded by the enemy. Upon reaching the village of Tabu-dong, members of Companies D and E of the 8th Cavalry became involved in hut-to-hut fighting before they could retreat. Meanwhile, elements of the 2nd Engineer Battalion, which had been ordered to take and hold Hill 755, were also forced to withdraw. United States forces did not re-take this territory until September 21, 1950. Private First Class James Lester Bright, who joined the U.S. Army from South Carolina, served with F Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was reported missing in action on September 3, 1950. No one witnessed PFC Bright’s death, and evidence indicates he was not held as a prisoner of war. His remains have not been recovered. Today, Private First Class Bright is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency