Do You Know Relatives of Donald Deane Burris, Jr.?

A Bucks County man is seeking surviving relatives of CWO Donald Deane Burris, Jr., from Wayne, who was reportedly killed when he fell from a rescue helicopter in Cambodia or Laos on December 22, 1969.

Frank Palumbo, of Chalfont, has had a POW/MIA bracelet with Burris’ name on it since it was issued about 40 years ago. During the war in Vietnam metal POW/MIA bracelets were sold all over the country, each bearing the name of a soldier who was missing in action or a prisoner of war.

Palumbo told Radnor Patch that he thinks he bought his at his local drug store in Jenkintown. Palumbo contacted Radnor Patch after reading this article, .  

“I have always kept it with some other sentimental items. I have always thought about trying to find the family, but as life can get busy I never made the effort,” he wrote in an email. “If you can find the family Sam I would give it to them if they would want to have it, otherwise I will keep it as I have done for 40 some years.”

Do you know any living relatives of Donald Deane Burris, Jr.? If so, let us know.  

Burris was born on December 26, 1946 in Philadelphia. He was a member of the Radnor High School class of 1965.

Friends of Burris have left messages on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Web site, like this one from John A. McQuaid, a Radnor classmate:  

Don Burris was designated as the "most likely to succeed" in my senior class at Randnor Senior High School in 1965. Little did we know that Don's success would not be in academics, but in serving the citizens of his country in a most honorable way. He turned up missing on his second as a helicopter pilot in 'Nam. Thanks, Don, for your ultimate sacrifice in those tumultuous times.