Monticello park honors local war hero
Monticello, Ill. (WCIA) — The Robert C. Burke Memorial Park reopened Saturday after a ten-month renovation that cost $3 million. The park has new pickleball courts, playgrounds, and a lighted basketball court.
A ceremony was held honoring the park's namesake — Private First Class Robert C. Burke — who died as a Marine in Vietnam when he was 18 years old.
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Burke is the youngest Medal of Honor recipient from the Vietnam war. His sister, Marilyn Burke Spurlock, remembers playing in the same park with him when they were young.
'And I am very honored, very touched that the city decided to name this after Robert,' Spurlock said. 'I know that he is smiling in heaven, knowing that his friends have remembered him.'
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