PFC Cornelius F. Burdiss

Today we honor and remember PFC Cornelius F. Burdiss of the 101st Airborne Division.

Private First Class (PFC) Cornelius Francis Burdiss of Regimental Headquarters Company, 327th Glider Infantry Regiment (GIR), 101st Airborne Division, was born at Eperly, Raleigh County, West Virginia, to George F. and Bertha B. (Burgess) Burdiss on November 29, 1918. Cornelius had five brothers, Harry P., Carl H., Paul F., William J., and Charles T. Burdiss, and four sisters, Gertrude I., Anna L., Katherine E., and Maxine G. Burdiss.

Cornelius attended Stoco High School, located In Lego, West Virginia. He registered for the draft at Killarney, Raleigh County, West Virginia, on October 16, 1940. At the time, he was employed by the Lillybrook Coal Company in Killarney. He enlisted into the United States Army at Huntington, West Virginia, on March 31, 1942, and received his basic training at Camp Claiborne, located in Rapides Parish, central Louisiana. 

PFC Cornelius Burdis was assigned to the Regimental HQ Company of the 327th GIR, 101st Airborne Division. He fought with his company in Normandy, France, and the Netherlands, where his unit participated in Operation Market Garden. At the beginning of October, the men of the 327th GIR found themselves on The Island, a narrow strip of land north of Nijmegen, situated between the Lower Rhine and Waal Rivers.

Together with the paratroopers of the 506th PIR and the men of 1st Battalion, 401st GIR (3rd Battalion, 327th), the men of the 327th were involved in heavy fighting with the enemy at the town of Opheusden from October 7th to the 14th, 1944. After the German withdrawal in mid-October, the whole front at The Island was relatively quiet. 

There were still the daily patrols though that needed to be done, and the German artillery could keep a man awake during the nights. Another hazardous situation was the Nazi mines and booby traps that were sown all around the area, but especially in the vicinity of Opheusden. That condition proved to be fatal for PFC Burdiss, as he was killed in action when the jeep he was driving hit a land mine.

Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅

PFC Cornelius F. Burdiss was 25 years of age when he died in the Netherlands, on October 28, 1944. 

He was initially buried at the Temporary Military Cemetery Molenhoek, in the Netherlands, at Block F, Row 1, Grave 2. PFC Burdiss was later reburied at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial at Margraten, at Block G, Row 3, Grave5, where he rests eternally. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Medal. 

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Cornelius. 

Lest we forget! 🇺🇸

The sources used for this article are known to the author and available on request.