[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 47 (Thursday, April 13, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E583]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING MAJOR BURKS A. VIA, USMC

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CHRISTOPHER COX

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 13, 2000

  Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, on April 28, 2000, Marine Corps Major Burks A. 
Via will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Major Via was 
a constituent; and the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, where he was 
based for many years during his quarter century of military service, is 
of special significance to Orange County, CA. It is my honor to bring 
Major Burks' record to the attention of the 106th Congress as the 
nation prepares to honor him at Arlington.
  Burks Via was born in Roanoke, VA, June 7, 1917. He joined the Marine 
Corps on his birthday in 1938. After the Royal Canadian Air Force 
trained him as a pilot, he flew missions in the South Pacific--207 from 
American Samoa and 40 from Munda, Bougaineville, and Guadalcanal.
  Via piloted the first Marine Corps aircraft to land in Hong Kong 
after end of World War II. As the United States worked for post-war 
peace and stability in Asia, he served with the First Marine Air Wing 
in Tsingato, China. When Chinese Communist forces grew stronger, and 
turned their gun sights to U.S. Marines, he flew the final missions out 
of Chengchun, Mukden, and Peiping. His service record with the Fleet 
Marine Force, Western Pacific, from June 1948 to January 1949, includes 
salutations for ``extensive behind the lines intelligence missions'' 
against the Communist forces.
  In 1949, he was transferred to Cherry Point, NC, the long-time East 
Coast counterpart to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. After duty 
at the Naval Air Station at Anacostia, where he was promoted to Major, 
he began a tour in 1953 that took him to El Toro, Hawaii, Japan, and 
Korea, flying 566 missions. Starting in 1955, Major Via took charge of 
transport missions for senior U.S. and NATO military officials and 
diplomats around the world. As Marine Colonel William L. Beach noted in 
his eulogy on December 17, 1999, Major Via was considered the best VP 
pilot in the Marine Corps and the Navy. In fact, when President Johnson 
flew to California to dedicate the University of California at Irvine 
in 1964, the Marine Corps pilot was asked to back up the President's 
Air Force One pilot. That same year, Major Burks retired, having logged 
14,000 flight hours.
  Major Burks served not only his nation, but also his family, and his 
community. His wife, Shirley, five children, and seven grandchildren, 
survived him. Orange County will miss him. At Arlington, the nation 
will honor him. His contributions to freedom in Asia, in Europe, and 
around the world, and his service to the Marine Corps and the nation, 
merit our appreciation and our gratitude in Congress.

                          ____________________