Allen M. Burdett, Jr.

Allen Mitchell Burdett, Jr. (25 August 1921 – 8 July 1980) was a United States Army lieutenant general.
Early life.
Burdett was born in Washington, D.C. on August 25, 1921 to Allen Sr. and Margaret Burdett. He also had a brother named Lucien. His ancestors fought in every American conflict since the Revolutionary War. His father, a highly respected military judge, became the Army's senior JAG colonel. As a Boy Scout at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Burdett began his lifelong friendship with a future United States Military Academy (USMA) classmate, Arch Hamblen. Upon graduation from Western High School in Washington, DC, in 1939, he was appointed to the USMA by Senator Richard Russell Jr. of Georgia.
Personal life.
On 19 April 1948, Burdett married Antoinette Salley in Asheville, North Carolina. Together they had four children (Allen III, Douglas, William, and Margaret). His daughter was killed in a car accident in 1984. His wife died on April 24, 2008.
After retirement.
He continued his work with the Board of Directors of the United Services Automobile Association (USAA). He was a longtime member of the Army-Navy Town Club and the Army-Navy Country Club; as a member of the Falls Church Presbyterian Church, Falls Church, Virginia, he served as a deacon; as a member of the Covenant Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, he was a ruling elder. He was also a member of the Society of the Cincinnati.
Death.
Burdett died of cancer on 8 July 1980 in San Antonio, Texas, following a two-month illness. He was buried in the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.
Awards & decorations.
In 1980 he was inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Lt. Gen. Allen M. Burdett, Jr. Army Aviation Flight Safety Award was named in his honor in 1970.
The National Boy Scout Court of Honor awarded him the Silver Beaver, one of scouting's highest awards.
The San Antonio chapter of the American Red Cross honored him by establishing a volunteer award in his name.