Double Champ

Joe Burk was a lanky, wide-eyed New Jersey kid who couldn't keep away from water. In the time he could spare from helping his father raise apples and peaches, he learned to row, eventually became the world's sculling champion. War brought Joe, appropriately, to the Navy. The Navy made him an officer and skipper of a speedy PT boat.

Thereafter Ensign Burk concentrated on a particular target: Jap landing barges. Soon he found himself a champ for the second time in his life. His record: 13 Jap barges sent to the bottom, an assist on a 14th.

In Bridgeboro, N.J., Joe was a mild young man who did not smoke, drink or swear. Last week, in describing how a dozen Japs thwarted his efforts to rescue them, Bargebuster Burk, without falling back on strong language, used strong words: "They were squealing and putting up a terrific fuss. There was nothing to do but eradicate them."

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