Time Does What War Couldn't

   As time continues its inexorable march onward we lose men of the 508th, friends and comrades all. 
   508er Dwayne Burns wrote a poem, which appears at right that was the inspiration for his son Leland to describe Dwayne's passing as "his final jump".  Those words inspired us to request Leland's permission to label all of these entries as the final jump made by each man

Records are in alphabetical order, by last name. Click on a letter above to go to that portion of the list.  Service periods are indicated by WW2=World War II (1940's), KO=Korea (early 1950's), VN=Viet Nam, OEF - Operation Enduring Freedom, GWT=Global War on Terrorism,, etc.

NOTE:  We have gathered death notices and recorded them here as one last sounding of Taps in their memory.  Some entries have been located on the Internet and will have clickable links but most notices were merely extracted from the quarterly 508th newsletters. 

That data was then cross-referenced against the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) to expand upon names, dates and localities, etc.

However, entries for some individuals remain incomplete due to their not receiving Social Security benefits or because insufficient data was available to distinguish amongst multiple entries with similar names.

LEGEND

Shiny boots and silver wings
Now proudly stand where angels sing.
Airborne they were, and always will be

They died that others might be free.
On wings like eagles we drifted down
Landing in fields, trees and town.
A legend was born that dark night
When the '508th' began the fight.

The price we paid was beyond compare,
We left so many good friends there.
When the great jump master says
Stand up, hook up, stand in the door,
We will all meet our buddies on Heaven's shore.

Dwayne T. Burns, 1996