I'm attempting to research & document the K/W era service of a former 17th Infantry Regiment soldier. (US 7th Inf. Div.) The length of his 'tour of duty' has me puzzled, so I thought that perhaps someone may be able to shed some light on this subject for me. The soldier in question is; Pvt.(E-2) Perley L. Burdick, # ER-22810252, from Washington County, RI. He was twice WIA while serving with the 17th Inf. in Korea, and perhaps that fact had something to do with his being discharged early? He was WIA on 02/27/51, and spent about 9 weeks in the Hospital before being RTD on 05/03/51. His second time being WIA occured on 08/31/51, and he was in the Hospital for about 3 weeks before his RTD date of 09/23/51. Now, here's where I'm somewhat confused. The VA recorded his dates of service as being from 11/06/50 to 10/18/51, that comes out to just about 11 months & 2 weeks?? At first, I assumed that perhaps he was dischaged to the effects of his wounding on 08/31/51, but now I'm not so sure. (He was only 53 years old when he passed away back in 1985.) Shouldn't the VA have some notation that he was a medical disch. in his file? All they said was noted was some ery basic data, including the dates I've listed above. Did the US Army have some type of 'rule' during the Korean War era that men were released from duty after a specified number of times being WIA? I've checked with the 17th Inf. Assn. & the & 7 Div.'s Assn., but to no avail. They couldn't even so much as find mention of a Pvt. Perley L. Burdick within their records of unit rosters!! ( I've been trying to determine Burdick's Company assignment within the 17th Inf., but no luck so far. ) I apologize for the length of this query, but I had a few things that needed explaining. If anyone would be so kind as to assist me in learning Pvt. Burdick's status upon discharge, I would be most deeply appreciative. THANK YOU. Regards, Dom Pastore Jr.
