U.S. Navy

Hurbert Burks

World War II veteran Hubert Burks was still in training — attending radio school in Maryland — when the war’s end was announced.  But the war’s ending was just the beginning for Burks, the beginning of a long and adventurous military career.

The Richmond, Va., native continued his Navy service, retiring in 1972 a veteran of the Korean War and the Vietnam War. By then, Burks had earned the rank of master chief.

Burks worked in naval intelligence and, due to the sensitive nature of the work, is unable to describe much of it.  He did say part of the operation’s function was to find out what the world was up to. Burks had training in Morse Code and using teletype and recording equipment.

His military service provided his family with opportunities to live and travel in exotic countries, which they enjoyed.  His first station, while still a bachelor, was in Alaska.

From there he was transferred to the Winter Harbor Naval Station, during which time he met his wife of 57 years, Althea Carter, an Ellsworth native.

Burks had a stint in the Mediterranean aboard the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1948 after leaving Winter Harbor.  The assignment was a combination of tactical work and “goodwill work” Burks said. He spent weekends ashore visiting southern France, Naples, Italy, Tunisia and Morocco, among others.

Burks was returned to the Winter Harbor base for a short while before he re-enlisted. Althea liked the military life, he said.  The two went to Hawaii in 1950, in what would be the first of two tours there.

The second tour was in 1967.

The differences between a 1950 Hawaii and 1967 were startling, in part because of its vast development, Burks said.

“If you’d gone back it was like you’d gone to sleep and the Japanese had won the war because they owned two-thirds of it,” he said.

Burks went on an “unaccompanied tour,” meaning no wives allowed, to Okinawa in 1952.

“The communists and Chinese were on one side of the 38th parallel, we were on the other side,” Burks said.

Burks left Okinawa in 1953 for a stint in Washington, D.C.

In 1956, “they sent me to my first exotic country,” he said. “They sent me to Morocco.”

At that point, the Burks’ had two children and one on the way. They would later have one more.  Thanks to a favor from a friend in D.C., Althea and the children were able to travel with Burks, even though Althea at the time was nearly eight months pregnant. No military travel was allowed for women over seven months pregnant, he said.

“We did three years in Morocco, which my wife loved,” Burks said. “And I did, too. We had a great time.”

Morocco has Roman ruins, which the Burks’ toured.  Turkey was the next assignment.

Althea and the wife of a lieutenant commander for the Turkish government taught each other their respective languages. The family had maid service for $20 a month.  Burks’ next assignment was a solo one.

He served on the U.S. NS Muller on the waters between Key West, Fla. and Cuba.

“That was interesting,” Burks said. “This was when Kennedy was having discussions with Russia about getting their guided missiles out of Cuba.

“We were just observing and letting everybody know what was going on.”

After Cuba, the Burks’ lived in Puerto Rico, Hawaii for the second time, then Washington, D.C., before Burks retired.  The family moved to Maine in February of 1972. Burks was looking forward to a couple months of rest, then a solid stint of work on getting the house in order.

But he was recruited … by Merrill Furniture and went to work just a week after arriving in Ellsworth.  He stayed with Merrill Furniture for more than 15 years before cutting back to part-time hours.

Now Burks spends quite a bit of time rooting for his favorite baseball team, the St. Louis Cardinals. As his wife is a Red Sox fan, games at the Burks household on Main Street get quite lively.  Burks’ sons and grandsons have followed in his steps with Navy careers. The family counts nearly 100 years of military experience among them.

— By Jennifer Osborn