Burton Lewis Is Aviation Cadet At California Field - Santa
Ana, Calif. - Doing his share to "keep "em Flying" Burton E. Lewis, son
of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard H. Lewis of 414 North Second street, Cherokee,
Iowa has become an Aviation cadet at the air corps replacement training
center, it was announced here Friday by Army officials.
By means of
oa recently adopted "screening" process Cadet Lewis will be placed in
the type of duty for which he is best suited. Instruction received at
the replacement training center will be the first step toward Lewis
taking his place in the Air Corps as either pilot, navigator or
bombardier. (Source: Cherokee Daily Times, Apr 10, 1942, pg. 1)
Lieutenant Burton E. Lewis Receives Third Oak Leaf Cluster
- Four citations in three months of combat flying in the north African
area - that's the record of Lieutenant Burton E. Lewis of Cherokee.
The
most decorated Cherokee county serviceman in the present war,
Lieutenant Lewis is possessor of the Air Medal and three Oak Leaf
Clusters.
He received his third Oak Leaf Cluster only a few weeks
ago, according to a delayed letter received by his parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Leonard Lewis, who live on North Second street. The letter was
postmarked March 30. (Source: Former Cherokee Historical Society
scrapbook clipping dated 05-7-1943)
MORE HONORS: LT. BURTON LEWIS CREDITED WITH DOWNING MESSERSCHMITT
Cherokean Already Cited Four Times for Meritorious Action in North African Theater.
Allied
Headquarters in North Afrida - Second Lieutenant Burton Lewis of
Cherokee, Ia., a Flying Fortress navigator, was credited Monday with
shooting down a Messerschmitt 109 during the 400 plane raid Sunday on
Palermo, Sicily.
Lewis said he started firing when the German
fighter was 150 yards away and "gave him two bursts and saw the tracers
enter the ship. He went into a spin and crashed into the sea."
A shy, unassuming youth of 23 is toady Cherokee county's outstanding war hero.
He
is Second Lieutenant Burton E. Lewis, son of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard
Lewis, who in little more than three months of flying in north Africa
has won four citations.
News that he had shot down a German
Messerschmitt 109 fighter over Sicily Sunday was received here Tuesday
morning in press and radio dispatches.
Lewis, a navigator on a
Flying Fortress, has received the Air Medal and three Oak Leaf Clusters
for "outstanding achievement". It was believed likely he would receive
another Oak Leaf CLuster for disposing of the enemy fighter Sunday,
making a total of five decorations.
The Cherokean entered the army
air forces with ambition to be a pilot, but did not meet the
qualifacations and was made a navigator instead. He had difficult
getting into the air corps. It seems that every time he took a physical
test he became nervous and his heart beat increased!
Lieut. Lewis
was born March 10, 1920 and graduated from Wilson high school in 1937.
He stood high scholastically, ranking 19th in a class of 77 students.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were thrilled over the news of their son's latest achievement.
"I
was washing dishes in the kitchen and listening to the 7:30 o'clock
news over Des Moines when I heard the news about Burton." Mrs. Lewis
told a Daily Times reporter who alled her after the news report came
in. "I tell you I just gasped....I thought he had been killed, captured
or wounded until I realized what it was all about."
It is no
accident that enemy planes crossing the gunsights of the Cherokean are
doomed. He has always been an expert marksman. He attended Citizens
Military Training corps camp one summer several years ago and won a
marksmanship medal there. Many a time he has hit a pheasant with
a long shot while traming the countryside around Cherokee.
Lewis was
deeply disappointed when he "washed out" as a pilot at air school, his
mother recalled, but when he started training as a navigator he made up
his mind he would be a good one and he did.
When he was in school he
was noted for his devotion to duty and his desire to put everything he
had into whatever he was doing, never being satisfied withless than his
best. (Source: Cherokee Daily Times, May11, 1943, pgs 1 & 6)
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