Dozens of people gathered Friday in Howell to bestow a rare honor on one of their most beloved citizens.
At age 19, Sergeant Donald Burgett parachuted into Normandy on D-Day. By war’s end, he’d also fought in the Battle of the Bulge, helped capture Hitler’s mountain retreat and was wounded three times.
Now, by an act of Congress, the U.S. post office in Howell has been re-named in his honor.
“I was fortunate enough to do some traveling with him to go back to Europe and re-trace his footsteps and it was the trip of a lifetime,” says Burgett’s daughter, Renee Powell. “He was just a special person, one of a kind, very unique and way ahead of his time.”
Burgett wrote four books about his wartime experiences.
He died in 2017 at age 91.
