Romus Burgin

{{Short description|United States Marine and author (1922–2019)}} {{use mdy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox military person | name = Romus Valton Burgin | nickname = Burgie | image = RV Burgin.png | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1922|8|13}} | birth_place = Jewett, Texas, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2019|4|6|1922|8|13}} | death_place = Lancaster, Texas, U.S. | burial_place = Rawlins Cemetery, Lancaster, Texas | burial_label = Place of burial | allegiance = United States | branch = United States Marine Corps | service_years = 1942–1945 | rank = Sergeant | unit = K Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division | battles = '''World War II'''<br/>Battle of Cape Gloucester<br/>Battle of Peleliu<br/>Battle of Okinawa | awards = Bronze Star Medal <br/> Purple Heart | spouse = {{marriage|Florence Riseley|1947}} | children = 4 }}

'''Romus Valton "R. V." Burgin''' (August 13, 1922 – April 6, 2019)<ref name=TodayBooks>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna36280358 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406063602/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/36280358/ns/today-today_books/wid/7468326/ |url-status=live |archive-date=April 6, 2012 |title=Marine recounts brutal war in Pacific 'Islands': Former Marine R.V. Burgin writes about fighting in WWII |at=TODAY books |publisher=MSNBC Interactive – MSNBC.com |date=April 9, 2010 }}</ref> was a United States Marine and American author. As a young man, he served in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

Burgin was the author of the memoir ''Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific'' (with William Marvel).<ref name=TodayBooks /><ref>{{cite book|author=Burgin, R. V. |title=Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific|year=2010 |publisher=NAL Caliber |isbn=9780451229908 |url=https://archive.org/details/islandsofdamnedm00burg |url-access=registration }}</ref> Burgin is portrayed in the HBO miniseries ''The Pacific'' by Martin McCann.<ref name=NPR-2010-03 /><ref name=HC-2010-04-03 /> Burgin himself appears in documentary footage during the miniseries.<ref name=GranberryM-2010-03-14/>

==Early life and family== Burgin was born to Joseph Harmon Burgin and Beulah May (née Perry) Burgin in Jewett, Texas.<ref name=TodayBooks /><ref>{{cite news |title=Veteran wants war tales of the Pacific to be remembered |newspaper=The Dallas Morning News |date=June 26, 2005 }}</ref> He attended and graduated from Jewett High School in 1940 where he had been Captain of the football team.

Burgin's younger brother, Joseph ("Joe" or "J.D.") Delton (March 24, 1926 – February 17, 1945) joined the United States Army, after changing his year of birth from 1926 to 1925, and was sent to Europe,<ref name=BurginRV/><ref>[https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=225&cat=all&tf=F&q=Burgin&bc=&sort=24996%20desc&rpp=10&pg=19&rid=7364549&rlst=8581905,8527687,4515030,8578190,1548852,7088219,7268932,7364549,7470216,7231734 Burgin, Joe D; ASN: 38482046 ]. – Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 – 1946 (Enlistment Records). – U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.</ref> as a member of Company "C", 274th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division.<ref>{{citation |title=274th Infantry Regiment Unit Rosters: COMPANY C |url=http://www.trailblazersww2.org/rosters/C_274.pdf |format=Adobe Acrobat *.PDF |publisher=70th Infantry Division Association }}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=274th Infantry Regiment |url=http://www.trailblazersww2.org/units_274.htm |publisher=70th Infantry Division Association }}</ref> Joseph died in Alsace-Lorraine on February 17, 1945, when he was killed by artillery fire near the river Saar and the town of Forbach, as they moved east toward Saarbrücken on the other side of the river, as part of a push against the Siegfried Line.<ref name=BurginRV/><ref>{{citation |title=Casualty Listing: A-C |url=http://www.trailblazersww2.org/casualties_A_C.htm |publisher=70th Infantry Division Association }}</ref><ref>{{citation |chapter=Approach to the Siegfried Line |chapter-url=http://www.trailblazersww2.org/history_siegriedline.htm |publisher=Battery Press (c/o 70th Infantry Division Association) |title=US Seventh Army Report of Operations |year=1988 |pages=678–686 }}</ref> He is buried at the Sardis Cemetery next to his parents.<ref>{{citation |title=Sardis Cemetery A-F – Leon County, Texas |url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/leon/cemeteries/sardisa-f.txt |publisher=USGenWeb Archives }}</ref>

==Military career== Burgin joined the United States Marine Corps on November 13, 1942, during World War II and was assigned to the 9th Replacement Battalion. He soon became a mortarman in K-Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division (K/3/5),<ref name=TodayBooks /> and fought in the Pacific War at Cape Gloucester,<ref name=TodayBooks /> then alongside his friends Eugene Sledge and Merriell "Snafu" Shelton,<ref name=TodayBooks /> on Peleliu,<ref name=TodayBooks /> and Okinawa.<ref name=NPR-2010-03>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124580077 |title=Veteran R.V. Burgin Fought In 'The Pacific' |website=NPR.org |date=March 11, 2010 }}</ref><ref name=HC-2010-04-03>{{cite news |title=Texan's Pacific war memoir used for HBO mini-series |newspaper=Houston Chronicle |date=April 3, 2010}}</ref> Burgin was promoted to the rank of sergeant upon reaching Okinawa.<ref name=BurginRV>{{citation |author1=Burgin, R. V. |author2=with William "Bill" Marvel |year=2010 |title=Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-451-22990-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/islandsofdamnedm00burg }}</ref><ref name=DunnS-2010-03-07>{{citation |author=Dunn, Si |title=Book review: 'Islands of the Damned' by RV Burgin |newspaper=The Dallas Morning News |date=March 7, 2010 }}</ref>

He was awarded a Bronze Star for his actions in the Battle of Okinawa on 2 May 1945, when he destroyed a Japanese machine gun emplacement that had his company pinned down.<ref name=NPR-2010-03 /> He also was to be recommended for a Silver Star by Captain Andrew "Ack-Ack" Haldane for destroying a pillbox on Peleliu, but Haldane was killed by sniper fire before he could submit the recommendation.<ref name=TodayBooks />

==Personal life== In 1946, Burgin began working for the United States Post Office. He was employed there until his retirement in 1977.<ref name=BurginRV/> While on leave in Melbourne during World War II, Burgin met an Australian woman, Florence Riseley. They married in Dallas on January 29, 1947.<ref name=BurginRV/><ref>{{cite book|title=Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944 – The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War |url=https://archive.org/details/brotherhoodofher0000sloa |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/brotherhoodofher0000sloa/page/21 21] |author=Sloan, Bill |year=2005 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-7432-8460-8 }}</ref> The couple had four daughters.<ref name=DunnS-2010-03-07/><ref name=GranberryM-2010-03-14>{{cite news|author=Granberry, Michael |title='The Pacific,' book spotlight Lancaster veteran's battle story |newspaper=The Dallas Morning News |date=March 14, 2010 }}</ref>

Burgin did not speak about the war, not even to his family, until he met other veterans and decided to author his book. Burgin then became a fixture at veterans events and was one of seven grand marshals in the 2015 Dallas Veterans Day Parade.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Marine who helped inspire 'The Pacific' has died |url=https://taskandpurpose.com/history/marine-rv-burgin-pacific-hbo/ |access-date=25 February 2021 |agency=Task & Purpose |publisher=The Dallas Morning News |date=15 April 2019}}</ref>

Burgin died on April 6, 2019, at the age of 96 in Lancaster, Texas, and is buried next to his wife at Rawlins Cemetery.<ref>[https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/romus-burgin-obituary?pid=192128804 "Romus Valton Burgin Obituary"]</ref>

==Bibliography== *{{cite book|date=2010|author1=Burgin, R. V. |author2=Marvel, William "Bill" |title=Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-451-22990-8|url=https://archive.org/details/islandsofdamnedm00burg}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgin, Romus}} Category:1922 births Category:2019 deaths Category:People from Jewett, Texas Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Category:United States Marines Category:20th-century American memoirists Category:Writers from Texas Category:People from Lancaster, Texas Category:Military personnel from Texas