Daniel Burr: Close as Brothers

Growing up as a Native American on the Stockbridge-Munsee reservation in the 1950’s wasn’t easy. There weren’t many jobs available to the residents, and many families consisted of a single mother and many children who did what they could to help out. Wayne Malone is no stranger to these hardships. Malone grew up in a family of eight children without a father. He attended a Mission school where grades first through eighth were all taught in the same classroom, at the same time, by the same teacher. But Malone also holds these memories dearly, as they were a time when he was with his now deceased childhood friend Daniel Burr.

Malone and Burr were as close as brothers. They met when Burr would visit his grandfather, who lived across the street from Malone’s house. Burr would spend more time at Malone’s house than he would with his own family. They loved talking about Baseball stats despite never having the money to actually attend a game. They would often play a variety of sports together. Burr excelled in them all, and maybe someday would try and go professional.

Burr and Malone would eventually leave the reservation. Both of their mothers ended up finding jobs in Milwaukee, and so they moved to the city (his sister has served as a tribal judge). Moving to Milwaukee was a culture shock for the two. Malone recalls how intrigued they were the first time they ever saw an African- American person. Although they attended different schools, they would often meet up afterwards and play sports and hang out.

Burr loved Elvis. He used to imitate him and perfected all of The King’s famous poses. He would shake his leg and dance like him while Malone and their other friends would watch and laugh. A lot of girls were interested in Burr, but he wasn’t really a ladies man. He preferred playing sports and hanging out with his friends.

Burr, Malone, and another friend of theirs were hanging out in Malone’s basement one night listening to music. Suddenly, they heard a woman screaming. The three of them ran outside and saw a man pulling an older woman into an alley, with one hand on her purse. Burr shouted at the man, causing him to let go of the lady and retreat. They chased after the man, and Burr caught up to him and tackled him. He held him in place until the police arrived.

This was the kind of person that Burr was. He was always sticking up for the weaker person. If someone was bullying another person smaller than them, Burr would step in. He was known as a good guy, but people also knew not to mess with him.

“He was quite the fighter. I’ve seen him take down a few boys,” Malone says. “I don’t think he was afraid of anything.”

Burr would eventually join the airborne division of the military. Despite the draft, Burr volunteered himself because he “felt it was the right thing to do.” Malone knew Burr was going to rise to the top because he could achieve anything. Burr ended up becoming a Sergeant and squad leader.

“Whenever he got an inkling to do something, he would do it,” Malone says.

The last time Malone saw Burr was when he came home on leave before heading to Vietnam.

“He looked sharp and showed off his uniform,” Malone says.

On March 17, 1968, Burr was killed while securing a foxhole in Vietnam. Burr was the squad leader, and had ordered a member of his squad to take point. However, the soldier had a sprained ankle, and Burr instead volunteered to take point and was killed. Burr proved his fearlessness and honor one last time and sacrificed himself for the safety of his squad members.

“I shed a tear. I felt bad. I had a hard time accepting it,” Malone says. “I knew the world was missing a good person that a lot of people respected. He had so much to live for.”

It’s obvious that Burr had an impact on Malone’s and many others’ lives. He stood up for what was right up until the end of his life. Memories of their time on the reservation together picking strawberries and fishing in the river stick with Malone and remind him of the time he got to spend with a person whose life was so short, but was still able to accomplish so much.