Major General Robert W. Burns
Bob's Stories: First-Person Accounts
Serial No. O-24131 • USAAF / USAF
October 11, 1944 • National Archives
In the summer of 2003, Bob Burns began sending daily "Morning Report" emails to his family. What started as simple check-ins became something extraordinary: a complete oral history of his 32-year flying career, told in his own voice, with the humor, honesty, and detail that only the person who lived it could provide.
These emails were prompted by questions from his son Andy (an Army officer and West Point graduate) about cars, assignments, and family memories. Bob's responses expanded into vivid stories spanning from the Panama Canal Zone in 1939 through commands across the globe, capturing not just what happened, but what it felt like to live through the birth of American airpower.
This section preserves those stories—organized chronologically from Panama to Polebrook to peacetime commands—so that Bob's experiences can be heard in his own words, unfiltered and unforgettable.
Source: "Morning Report" emails sent by Bob Burns to family, July–September 2003
Archive location: data/supplemental/morning_reports_narrative.doc
Coverage: Complete career narrative (1939–1970) with emphasis on Panama, Guatemala, 351st Bomb Group formation, and combat at Polebrook
Cross-references: Each story links to relevant flight records, mission pages, and supplemental materials
Bob's first assignment after earning his pilot rating was the Panama Canal Zone—a backwater posting that became crucial after Pearl Harbor. These stories capture the isolation, the improvisation, and the grinding patrols to the Galapagos that few remember today.
"The streaks gave you a wind indication but the size of the white caps gave a close idea of the wind velocity... Crude as this methodology was, to my knowledge, only one crew missed landfall and was not heard of again."
7-8 hour flights each way. No navigators. No radio aids on the island. Just time, distance, and reading the ocean surface at 1,500 feet.
Read the full story →"When my watch came to the minute, I signaled that we were there. With this, the pilot rolled into a 90 degree bank and, lo and behold, the base was directly under us."
Navigation by stopwatch in a converted DC-3. The moment that made Bob the squadron adjutant.
Read the full story →"As I neared going into the lake, I eased the nose back a trifle and there was just a smidge of lift. I nursed the plane for what seemed like an eternity..."
Full fuel load. Three engines. Nearly into Lake Huron. "Lots of stupidity there."
Read the full story →"The base duty officer came in and told me to get moving, that the Japs had attacked Pearl Harbor and that we were at war."
Alone at Howard Field. Six B-17Bs. All night loading bombs and ammunition. The attack that never came — but the patrols that went on for months.
Read the full story →"I have no idea what triggered it, but I was suddenly aware that the cycle was in a vicious shuddering in the front wheel. Immediately, I was thrown off and slid down the road, face first."
Harley from a Guatemalan colonel. Violent front-wheel shudder. Face-first onto gravel. Flew the Galapagos route with his face not quite right.
Read the full story →"It was '39 Ford convertible with every extra that could be added, which was a radio, white sidewall tires and a deluxe steering wheel. This cost me $685 of which I had to borrow the whole amount from a bank in San Antonio."
Arabian Sand paint. 28 miles of paved road on the Atlantic side. Three army posts, one Navy base, five movie theaters. "I did long for the open road."
Read the full story →From Geiger Field in Spokane to the frozen runways of Presque Isle, these are the stories of building a bomb group from scratch—and the chaos, improvisation, and near-disasters that marked the journey to England.
"I asked Comfort if he knew how to fly on instruments. His response was that he reckoned that he couldn't. That he had had no training for it. So I told him to lie back in his seat and enjoy his ride to England."
Autopilot failed. Copilot couldn't fly instruments. Bob hand-flew the Atlantic for eight hours through the night.
Read the full story →"As I neared going into the lake, I eased the nose back a trifle and there was just a smidge of lift. I nursed the plane for what seemed like an eternity until I could get enough airspeed to start a climb."
Propeller failure. Should have diverted to Wright-Patterson. Instead: three-engine takeoff, full fuel, nearly into Lake Huron.
Read the full story →Forming the 351st Bomb Group. Lt. Col. Hatcher, Bob Bowles, Ross Milton (later 4-star). Six B-17s on the ramp.
Coming soonTried to resign for Eastern Airlines. National emergency declared. The 4-hour exam. One of 30 selected nationwide for regular commission.
Coming soon351st Bomb Group (Heavy), Eighth Air Force, England. Strategic bombing, Silver Stars, and a Piper Cub with no instruments. These are the stories Bob told about the war—some heroic, some absurd, all true.
"I went over one afternoon to see them and while I was talking to one of their people, I saw this vision come riding by on her bike. I think she stopped for a minute or so and I knew then that I wanted to see her again."
Ruth Josephine Blackburn, Army nurse, 160th Station Hospital. A chance encounter that changed everything.
Read the full story →"I had brought my gas mask along instead of the oxygen mask... Fortunately for me, no word of this got out."
No airport near Ruth's hospital. Sheep pasture landing. Gas tank filler too close to windshield—used rolled RAF map as funnel. Flew home blind in fog, gave plane to RAF, took train back.
Read the full story →"On a wall map of Europe, I cut a string to equate the distance. I swung it from a point on the coast of England in a big arc across the continent and it only passed directly over one city, Schweinfurt."
~360 aircraft. ~30 shot down. Bob deduced the secret target before the briefing.
Read the full story →"Out of the murk came about twenty or so fighters in formation headed directly at us. The closing speed was so great that neither I nor Gable had time to fire a shot and the fighter force was in the same boat."
Clark Gable's last mission. Division lead with only two groups. 90-degree turn into sea haze. Silver Star awarded.
Read the full story →Hospital called: urgent orders to move to continent. Single-seat fighter. Ruth sat facing right. "Awkward reach for the stick."
Coming soonMix from powdered eggs. Fly to altitude to freeze. Weekly scotch runs to Scotland. "The staff officers' mess was the finest in the UK."
Coming soon"I decreed that from now on, he would be scheduled on every mission his squadron flew but his position was 'tail end Charlie.' He could finish his tour with one more completed mission or he could abort without significant loss to the formation."
Read the full story →"He got the foot ruler all right but he nailed it on the end of a four-foot pole and walked the length of the runway, whistling 'The Star Spangled Banner.'"
Read the full story →German heavy water plant. Flew at 2,500 feet to avoid radar. Saw neutral Sweden: "how nice it would have been to land there."
Coming soonWing commander: "You're being relieved." Longest in theater. Pentagon colonels needed combat experience. War over for Bob.
Coming soonFound agency tracking organizations. Ruth's hospital en route to Amiens. Rail pass. MP drove him to hospital. One last day together.
Coming soonAfter V-E Day, Bob continued flying for another 26 years—through the reorganization of the Air Force, Korea, and the Cold War. These stories capture commands, friendships, and the long arc of a career.
Roommates at rest facility. Conversations influenced "The Ides of March." Four letters exchanged 1945–1946.
Coming soonRuth landed at Dover. New York marriage laws. Drove to Connecticut. Found Justice of Peace. "Set up housekeeping" at Mitchell Field.
Coming soon"For the first time in my military service, I worked for a boss with whom I felt to be truly a co-boss." Full credit for Bob's B/Gen promotion.
Coming soonClimbed to 41,000 feet. Aide constantly calculating fuel. Steep descent flamed out engine. Landed with just enough to taxi.
Coming soon