Sgt Burks found his home in bluefield, WVa. USA. He studied at the Hargrave Military Academy at Chatham, Va. and Bluefield College, Bluefield WVa. in which town he was later employed by the Coca Cola Corp.After enlistment he trained at Weston, Trenton and Hamilton. He served as an instructor at the training school at Stanley (17 EFTS), NS. Killed along with 1440685 LAC Barker, WE when Fleet Finch II Serial 4445 crashed at Otterson Lake (in one place given as Short's Lake), Brentwood, NS. Surv. Mother, Mrs. JL Burks, Bedford, Va.,Sister, Dorothy, in New York. Commemorated on Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Va., along with fifteen other native Virginians who died serving in the RCAF.