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A remarkable and unprecedented event took place on 22 March 1974 in the Senate of the United States; a United States Air Force officer was honored by being posthumously nominated and confirmed by the Senate in a promotion to brigadier general. In the words of Senator Talmadge of Georgia speaking to the President of the Senate:</div>
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“Mr. President, the President of the United States has nominated a Georgian to receive posthumously the rank of brigadier general in the Air Force.</div>
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“Colonel Ed Burdett of Macon was shot down, captured and imprisoned by the North Vietnamese while flying a mission over North Vietnam in 1967. Soon after he became eligible for the rank of brigadier general but his promotion was withheld for fear that it might cause him abuse at the hands of the enemy.</div>
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“It is a tragedy that Colonel Burdett cannot receive this award in person, having died in captivity. His remains have recently been released by the North Vietnamese and his burial is imminent. He leaves a widow and a mother in Macon.</div>
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“For that reason I ask the Senate for speedy confirmation of his nomination. There can be no higher sacrifice than a man’s life for his country. Without bravery and dedication such as Colonel Burdett’s our country could never have become what it is today. Because men like him have died for our freedom we are able to honor them for their acts of heroism. But no honor we bestow can fully voice our gratitude.”</div>
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The nomination was confirmed and General Edward Burdett’s posthumous promotion was made official, thus ending the career of one of the Air Force’s finest officers.</div>
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The son of a Foreign Service officer, Ed Burdett’s youth was spent in Latin America and in Europe. Frequently returning to the home of his mother in Macon, Georgia, it was here that he established his American roots. It was in Macon where he met Anne Richardson, later to become his wife. It was from Macon that Edward left to enter West Point in 1939.</div>
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After graduation in 1943, having earned his pilot rating as a cadet, Lieutenant Burdett went through additional flying training and then in 1944 he was assigned to the China-Burma-India theater. After flying 201 combat hours in P-38 missions with the 35th Reconnaissance Squadron over China, he returned to the Continental Air Command Headquarters, Washington, DC. In December 1945 he joined the first operational jet fighter unit, the 412th Fighter Group at Santa Maria, California, later designated the First Fighter Group. He spent several years with fighter units in various parts of the United States.</div>
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During the 1950’s, Ed Burdett served in Panama, Headquarters, Caribbean Air Command, first as a staff officer and later as Commandant, United States Air Force School for Latin America—an important post which allowed the full use of his abilities as a Spanish linguist, a talent deriving from his boyhood. Then, after Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Field and the Fighter Weapons School at Luke Air Force Base, Lieutenant Colonel Burdett became Commander, 613th Tactical Fighter Squadron, flying F-86s, and subsequently, Chief, Tactical Operations Division, Air Force Section, Military Assistance Advisory Group, Rome, Italy. In the late 1950s, Colonel Burdett served at the Pentagon as Deputy Chief, Command Post, and on the Joint Staff.</div>
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During the early and mid-1960s, Colonel Burdett saw duty at Headquarters, Tactical Air Command in Virginia and as Commander, 50th Combat Support Group at Hahn in Germany and as Commander, 48th Tactical Fighter Wing at Lakenheath, England.</div>
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In August 1967 he assumed command of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, Korat, Thailand, from where he and his men flew F-105 missions over North Vietnam. It was on 18 November 1967 that Ed Burdett took off from Korat for a strike mission against the important target of Phue Yen Airfield near Hanoi. During the attack his aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile. He managed to complete his attack on the airfield, releasing his bombs on target and then attempted unsuccessfully to fly to safety. He crashed in a heavily defended area near Hanoi. After years of uncertainty and confusing evidence as to his actual fate, it was learned that Edward Burdett had died on 18 November 1967. It was not until March 1974 that General Burdett’s remains were identified and finally flown home to the United States. The end of this tragic story came with his burial in Arlington in the late spring of the same year. A much decorated hero, a seasoned combat commander, an outstanding American, was finally laid to rest.</div>
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Edward Burdett was a big man, gifted in many ways; as a boxer at West Point, a linguist, a pilot, and a commander. He was also a warm and human personality, a dedicated family man who enjoyed spending his spare hours working on antique clocks and other fine old furniture.</div>
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General Burdett is survived by his wife, Anne Richardson Burdett of Macon, Georgia; a daughter, Mrs. James Urquart Sands of Amelia Island, Florida; a son, Edward Burke Burdett Jr. of Puerto Rico; his mother, Mrs. William Carter Burdett of Macon, Georgia; two sisters, Mrs. Agnes Burdett Domingos of Macon and Miss Mary Elizabeth Burdett of Atlanta, Georgia; a brother, William Carter Burdett; and a grandson, James U. Sands Jr.</div>
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Ed Burdett was known and loved by many friends from his boyhood in Macon, from West Point, from the Air Force and from many places in far corners of the world.</div>
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He will be remembered not only by glowing tribute in the Congressional Record. He will not be forgotten by his family and his friends. He was a good and honorable man.</div>