Biography
Second Lieutenant Robert LeRoy Burnett was born on September 9,1923 in Fairfield, Iowa to parents Roy C. Burnett and Mary E. McCormick. They raised Robert in nearby Batavia, Iowa.
Robert entered the Army Air Corps on February 21, 1943. He graduated from Navigation School and received his commission on March 18, 1944. He went on to bombardier school, which he completed that June. Robert then became an instructor at Deming, New Mexico until September 1944. He went on to serve with the 5th Air Force, 501st squadron, 345th Bomber group that bombed shipping in and around South East Asia and the Philippines.
One record indicates that he died over Saigon, French Indochina (now Vietnam). Another stated he was killed in action at New Guinea on April 28, 1945. Burnett posthumously received the Purple Heart, an Air Medal, and a Presidential Citation.