Thomas Burke (1833 – 27 October 1883) was a United States Navy sailor and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor. A native of

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

, Ireland, Burke immigrated to the U.S. and joined the Navy from the state of New York on January 21, 1862. By May 10, 1866, he was serving as a

seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

on the . On that day, while the ship was off the coast of Eastport, Maine, he and two shipmates rescued two sailors from the from drowning. For this action, he and his shipmates, Seaman Richard Bates and Captain of the After-guard

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, were awarded the Medal of Honor three months later, on August 1. Burke's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

For heroic conduct, with 2 comrades, in rescuing from drowning James Rose and John Russell, seamen, of the U.S.S. ''Winooski'', off Eastport, Maine, 10 May 1866.

Burke died at age 51. The cause of death is unknown. (Per Pension File) He was later buried at St. Michael's Church in the town of Pensacola, county of Escambia, Florida in 1883, as evidenced in his pension file. St. Elizabeth's in Washington, D.C. and the National Cemeteries Administration have recently acknowledged that he was never buried in Washington, D.C., although the mistake is listed on many websites to this day. There are veterans of the same name at this cemetery in Washington, D.C. but none received the Medal of Honor. The erroneous Medal of Honor grave marker in Washington, D.C. is in the process (as of January 2016) of being replaced by a non Medal of Honor marker. Many officials and others have played a role in solving this riddle over the past few years, including the dedicated staff at St. Elizabeth's, and the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the US, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, the National Cemeteries Administration and others. St. Michaels in Pensacola has several burial grounds, and is currently trying to determine which one Burke was buried in.

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* * at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Thomas 1833 births 1883 deaths 19th-century Irish people Irish-born Medal of Honor recipients Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) People from County Galway United States Navy sailors United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients Non-combat recipients of the Medal of Honor Military personnel from County Galway

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