Burns

Mission: To highlight some of the awesome veterans in this county, and as a form of education to the general public and reminder of the service, sacrifice, and sometimes fun of duty in the U.S. Military Services. Wallowa County has approximately 7,000 residents; more than 1,000 of them are veterans. They are your friends, neighbors, workers, and co-workers. Please take a moment and get to know them. Remember — “Support the Troops” and remember the veterans.

Ron “Stormy” Burns, of Joseph — “The code will always go through” (quote from Stormy)“I learned Morse code when I was 14 years old,” Stormy said. Also, “The trouble with my Navy job was that I loved it!”

Ron was a communications technician/radioman. His job entailed listening to our country’s enemies’ Morse code, translating it and passing it up the Navy chain of command to higher headquarters, to include directly to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol. Ron loves to poke fun at the fact that he also worked almost directly for the National Security Agency as well (the NSA being our country’s lead agency in communications and communications intercept).

Ron says, “NSA really means No Such Agency and/or Never Say Anything.” (No doubt the NSA will be calling Ron about this article).

Ron “Stormy” Burns joined the Navy in 1952 and retired in 1973 as a chief petty officer (E-7) — 20 years of almost consecutive service. He did have one break in service for about six months, when he got out of the Navy and went to work for a newspaper. However, after a small work accident, Ron’s immediate boss told him that he should go back in the Navy — so he did! He missed and loved it anyway. Service and sacrifice was already in Ron’s blood and DNA; his father was a career U.S. Coast Guard Officer. As such, Ron was born in Portland, Oregon, but remembers moving to and living in Ketchikan, Alaska, and Marysville, California.

Things always seem to happen for a reason and Ron is a big fan of “destiny” in a person’s life. It started right from beginning for Ron’s military career. He distinctly remembers going to the Military Entrance Processing Station in Seattle, Washington, from Marysville with 11 other young men. When they arrived and got off the bus, they were told to line up (all 12 of them) and told to count off by fours; i.e. one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. Ron had intended to join the Coast Guard (just like Dad), however destiny overrode and all the “fours” were assigned to go into the Navy. Ron was a “four.” Bam! His career in the Navy started.

Family life. Yes, you are allowed to get married and have a family while in the military. Ron met his wife-to-be, Shirley, when they were the only two people to show up for choir practice at their high school. Ron remembers it being a rainy evening (probably why no one else showed up for the choir practice) and it was “love at first sight.” Shirley’s father was a preacher. Ron had to “toe-the-line” even before he joined the military! In other words, stand straight and tall, don’t you wiggle, don’t you move. No hanky-panky stuff there, mister. Seven children later (five boys and two girls), a wonderful woman and married life ended when Shirley passed away in 1991.

While in the Navy, Ron and his family moved around the nation and world. From San Diego, California, to Yokohama, Japan, to Adak, Alaska, to Maryland, to Elmendorf, Alaska, just to name a few duty stations. Ron also remembers being assigned to Adak, and being told that his family could join him sooner if he “volunteered” to help fix up and paint his home on the base. So, he did.

Back to the future, and/or destiny. Remember, Ron learned Morse code while in elementary school and high school, pretty much on his own when he was 14 years old. He was a little upset when the Navy sent him to radio “code school” to learn Morse code. After all, he already knew it. But of course, not “The Navy way.” Ron remembers the chief instructor waking him up in class and being angry with this new recruit falling asleep while practicing code. But the instructor would also be astounded, because while asleep, Ron would and could copy the code in his sleep perfectly. It was already in his blood and DNA, just like the service and sacrifice that he had inherited from his father.

Ron “Stormy” Burns attributes his whole life to destiny and God’s grace and intervention. From knowing “the code,” to marriage to his love at first sight, to the Navy, duty stations and doing a full and honorable career in the Navy. Stormy — NSA should really mean “Navy Still Angry” at you leaving the service. God bless and remember — the code will always go through, thanks to you, Stormy Burns.

Post Script: No doubt at this juncture the reader is probably wondering how Ron “Stormy” Burns got the nickname “Stormy.” Well, shipmate — it is just another thing Ron inherited from his father (Ralph Burns) who was a career Coast Guard officer as mentioned previously, and he had a dynamic character/personality, as such his crews would sometimes (in private of course) refer to him as “Stormy.” Hence, at some point in time in Ron’s Navy career he also adopted the nickname “Stormy.” (But not exactly for the same reason as good old Dad.)