Ralph N Burr

It’s been six decades since Ralph “Doc” Burr left the Army after serving in World War II, but the memories remained vivid for the Shawano man, who was 23 when he entered the Army in October 1941. He served in World War II as a member of A Battery, 305th CA Balloon Battalion.

A member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe, Burr was raised in Red Springs with 15 siblings.

“I was glad to go,” said the 87-year-old Burr, because at that time there weren’t many job opportunities in the area.

First he went to Fort Sheridan in Illinois and then Camp Wallace in Texas for training. Next he was sent to Camp Davis in North Carolina, where he attended cooking and baking school.

“I had a lot of time off,” Burr said.

The Naval base at Vallejo, California, was his next stop, where he said he had it kind of easy. After that, it was on to Hawaii, where he received Ranger training at Fort Shafter and courses in unarmed defense at Hickam Field. He also received anti-aircraft and machine gun training while there.

“I was lucky, I stayed there 18 months,” Burr said. “They didn’t know where to send me I guess.”

But his easy time came to an end when he was shipped to the Philippines in December 1944. The soldiers were fighting for an American stronghold in Leyte.

“That’s where I got the battle star,” Burr said, referring to the award given to soldiers serving in a war zone. “They really had a battle there.”

Burr wasn’t severely wounded, but he was hit in the head with shrapnel.

On April 1, 1945, Burr was sent to Okinawa. Burr recalled watching the planes going overhead that were bombing Tokyo. He received two battle star medals for the invasions of Okinawa and the Philippines.

After serving five years without a furlough, Burr was discharged on Nov. 1, 1945. In addition to his battle medals, he was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Theatre Ribbon, and the World War II Victory Medal.

When he returned home, Burr worked in Green Bay and then at the Ford garage in Shawano. Later he started Burr Brothers in Shawano with his brother, Gordon. That’s where he got his nickname, “Doc,” because his brother dubbed him the doctor of motors.

“I had 600 cars there at one time,” Burr recalled.

Not only did they do mechanical and body work, they also sold auto parts. When Gordon left, Burr went into business with his son, Tom. After Tom died in 1989, Burr kept the business open for a couple more years before shutting down in the early 1990s.

Burr’s wife, Joyce, died in 1981. Together they had two more children, Steven and Patti, and two grandchildren.

Every day, Burr and his friend, Helen Hintz, went somewhere. Helen drove because Burr’s eyesight wasn’t very good anymore.

“She picks me up every day and we go somewhere,” Burr said.

They often went to eat at the North Star Casino or at the elderly center in Bowler.

Burr lived with Patti and her husband, Bill Grab, west of Shawano, just a short distance from the old shop. His sense of humor was well-known around Shawano.

“He’s an awful jokester,” Patti said.

Burr recalled all the happy times at the body shop and all the laughter he shared with salesmen and customers.

“We had a lot of fun down there,” he said.

Burr, whose service friends were all gone, didn’t agree with the current war in Iraq.