Major General
Robert W. Burns

One Pilot. Thirty-One Years. Every Flight.

Robert Wiygul Burns — “Bob” to everyone who knew him — was born December 8, 1916, in rural Mississippi. He earned his wings at Kelly Field on November 28, 1939, and for the next thirty-one years he flew for the United States Army Air Forces and the Air Force that grew out of them: B-18 patrols over the Panama Canal, B-17s against occupied Europe, Guard Thunderbolts over Tennessee, jet interceptors above the Pacific Northwest, and finally a general's T-39 — the only aircraft in his last year's logbook.

This archive is his family's effort to preserve that life whole. At its core are his complete Individual Flight Records — every monthly Form 5 from June 1939 to July 1970, scanned, transcribed, and cross-checked — surrounded by the things the records can't say by themselves: the stories he wrote for his family in 2003, his photographs, his personal 16mm film from Polebrook, recorded interviews, and the documents of a long career.

In WWII Bob served as Group Air Executive of the 351st Bomb Group (H) at RAF Polebrook, England, flying combat missions over occupied Europe before assuming command of the Group on October 12, 1944. He came home a 28-year-old colonel; twenty-five years later he retired a Major General.

WWII Decorations: Silver Star • Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster • Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters • European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 2 bronze stars • American Campaign Medal (with Bronze Star device — anti-submarine duty, Canal Zone) • American Defense Service Medal • World War II Victory Medal