Raymond Andrew Burdick was born January 9, 1923 in Cortland, NY to Andrew J. Burdick (1893-1988) and Bertha E. Waldron (1895-1991). His parents were married on June 1, 1918 in Sauquoit, NY. He had an older sister Gladys (1921-2018). His dad was a teacher, principal and Superintendent of Schools in the Utica, NY schools. According to the 1930 US Census the family lived on Briar Ave. then by 1940, Holland Ave. in Utica, NY.

Raymond graduated from Utica Free Academy in1940 and completed two years at the University of Michigan. While there he was a member of Sigma Chi and the University Band. During the summer he was employed by Eastman Kodak in Rochester, NY. When he registered for the draft he was 6' tall and weighed 158 pounds with blue eyes and brown hair. He doesn't wait to finish at U. of Michigan, enlisting in the Air Corps on January 30, 1943. He received his pilot training at the University of Buffalo, Maxwell Field, Alabama, Clarksdale, Greenville and Jackson, Mississippi. After completing the Air Command Courses he was commissioned in April 1944 and issued service number O-829816. He was given a 10 day leave that same April before being ordered to the South Pacific in May 1944 with the 39th Troop Carrier Squadron (TCS), part of the Army Air Transport Command.

The 39th TCS was one of four squadrons of the 317 Troop Carrier Group flying Douglas C-47 Skytrain and C-46 transports in support of operations in the Philippine Islands. Initially stationed at Port Moresby, the 39th TCS moved to Hollandia in late April 1944 after it was captured by American forces during Operation Reckless. For the next year, 1st Lt. Burdick flew numerous missions in support of operations in the Philippines. He took part in the landing on Leyte and other islands of the Philippines. By March 1945 the squadron was operating from Clark Field on Luzon. It is here that 1st Lt. Burdick was killed on April 27, 1945 when the plane he was piloting was involved in a midair crash on Luzon. He was initially buried in the temporary military cemetery in Manila. He was posthumously awarded the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters. In September 1945 his Air Medal was presented to his father at the Rome Air Depot, Rome, NY. In September 1948, under the government's body recovery program, 1st Lt. Burdick's remains were returned home aboard the USAT Sgt. Morris Crain and buried in the Sauquoit Valley Cemetery.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3.

(Please see - http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org).

Can you help us write these stories? Together We Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of WWII fallen.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute, please contact Jim Greenberg at jim.greenberg@oneonta.edu.

SBTSProject/New York/Oneida

Sources

"3 Area Men Reported Killed; 4 Others Wounded in Action", Utica Daily Press, Utica, NY, Wednesdy, May [day illegible], 1943, pg. 7

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/129706737/raymond_a-burdick: accessed July 12, 2026), memorial page for Lieut Raymond A. Burdick (9 Jan 1923–27 Apr 1945), Find a Grave Memorial ID 129706737, citing Sauquoit Valley Cemetery, Sauquoit, Oneida County, New York, USA; Maintained by: Find a Grave.

Dad's Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/126604980/andrew_jared-burdick: accessed July 12, 2026), memorial page for Andrew Jared Burdick (5 Feb 1893–27 Aug 1988), Find a Grave Memorial ID 126604980, citing Sauquoit Valley Cemetery, Sauquoit, Oneida County, New York, USA; Maintained by: Find a Grave.

National Archives at St. Louis, MO, 63138; Record Group 64: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration; Series: Morning Reports; Morning Reports for April 1944: Roll 330 (1 of 3); NAID: 468372749.

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York State, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147

Obituary for Mary Burdick, Utica Daily Press, Utica, NY, March 30, 1960, pg. 26.

The Genealogy of the Benedicts in America / V 2 By Elwyn Ellsworth Benedict; Author: Benedict, Elwyn Ellsworth, pg. 144-145.

Year: 1930; Census Place: Utica, Oneida, New York; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0097; FHL microfilm: 2341355

Year: 1940; Census Place: Utica, Oneida, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02860; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 67-23

Supporting Documents