Romus Burgin


Romus Valton Burgin was an American author and United States Marine.

Early life and family

Burgin was born to Joseph Harmon Burgin and Beulah May Burgin in Jewett, Texas. Burgin's younger brother, Joseph Delton joined the United States Army, after changing his year of birth from 1926 to 1925, and was sent to Europe, as a member of Company "C", 274th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division. Joseph died in Alsace-Lorraine on February 17, 1945, when he was killed by artillery fire near the river Saar and the town of Forbach, as they moved east toward Saarbrücken on the other side of the river, as part of a push against the Siegfried Line. He is buried at the Sardis Cemetery next to his parents.

Military career

Burgin joined the United States Marine Corps on November 13, 1942, during World War II and was assigned to the 9th Replacement Battalion. He soon became a mortarman in K-Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, and fought in the Pacific War at Cape Gloucester, then alongside his friend, Eugene Sledge, on Peleliu, and Okinawa. Burgin was promoted to the rank of sergeant upon reaching Okinawa.
Burgin was the author of the memoir Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific. He was awarded a Bronze Star for his actions in the Battle of Okinawa on 2 May 1945, when he destroyed a Japanese machine gun emplacement that had his company pinned down. He also was going to be awarded a Silver Star by Captain Andrew "Ack-Ack" Haldane for taking out a pillbox on Peleliu, but Haldane was killed by sniper fire before he could submit it.

Personal life

After the war he went to work for the United States Post Office. While in Melbourne, Burgin met an Australian woman, named Florence Risely. They married in Dallas on January 29, 1947. The couple had four daughters. Burgin is portrayed in the HBO miniseries The Pacific by Martin McCann. Burgin himself appears in documentary footage during the miniseries. He died on April 6, 2019, at the age of 96 in Lancaster, Texas.