LtCol
Kenneth “Skip” Burns
d. 9 June 2012
From the San Diego Union-Tribune on 15 June 2012:
BURNS, KENNETH (SKIP) May 13, 1930 to June 9, 2012 Major General USAF (Ret), a longtime resident of San Antonio, TX, passed away peacefully following a long battle with COPD and leukemia. Raised in Chula Vista, Ken graduated from Sweetwater High.
Upon graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1954, Ken took a commission in the United States Air Force and served 31 years as Commanders of: the largest fighter wing in Europe at RAF Upper Heyford, England; USAFSS in San Antonio; the US Logistics Group in Turkey; 13th Air Force at Clark AB in the Philippines; and retired in August 1985 as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Near East and South Asia in Washington DC.
He also served two combat tours in Vietnam. He commanded the 480th TFS in March 0f 1970.
Skip was preceded in death by his wife, Dottie, in 2006. He is survived by his daughters, Pamela Axell and Alison Heft (husband Warden), grandchildren, Kaitlyn, Meagan, Melissa, Andrew, and Wade, as well as a brother, Chris Burns of San Diego, CA. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, June 16th, at Villa de San Antonio (8103 North Hollow, San Antonio, TX 78240). Final interment will be in Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the American Lung Association .