Avenue of Heroes: Louis E. Burke Jr.

Prepared by: Anne Burke (daughter)

Louis E. “Lou” Burke Jr. was born on Oct. 4, 1916, in Holbrook, Arizona, the elder of two boys. In the early 1930s, Lou’s parents relocated their small family to Buffalo, New York, where Lou distinguished himself with gridiron exploits at Lafayette High. In 1935, Lou received appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he enhanced his reputation as a fine athlete, playing end on both offense and defense, including every minute of the midshipmen’s 10-0 win in the 1939 Army-Navy game.

Lou began his Navy career as an engineering officer aboard USS Saratoga. In mid-1941, while on shore leave in Honolulu, Lou met and fell in love with beautiful Ruth – nicknamed “Bunny” for her upturned nose – who had sailed to Hawaii on the steamship Lurline. The couple married the following April and later welcomed three children: Lisa, Anne, and Kevin.

After Pearl Harbor, Lou opted to join the brave young men who would fight the enemy from the air. Following flight school in Pensacola, Lou joined Carrier Air Group Six, which consisted of fighters, torpedoes, and bombers. As executive officer of the bombers, Air Group Six would be attached to the USS Hancock, known as “the Fightin’ Hannah.”

In March 1945, Lou and his fellow aviators departed for the western Pacific to join Hancock at Ulithi Lagoon, the staging area for Admiral William “Bull” Halsey’s Third Fleet. Finally, Lou would begin the work he had trained many months to do. Flying the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, nicknamed “the Beast” for its difficult handling, Lou led his pilots on raids against Japanese warships, aircraft, and installations, often in the face of intense antiaircraft fire that Lou described in his logbook as “gruesome.”

On July 28, 1945, Lou scored a direct hit that contributed to the sinking of the Japanese battleship Ise. For his courage and skillful airmanship, Lou was awarded the Navy Cross, the Navy’s second-highest military decoration.

In 1964, Captain Burke retired to the grand old home at First and G Avenue in Coronado that he and Bunny purchased in 1957. After Bunny’s death, Lou remarried and later settled in Berkeley, where he spent many happy years.

Lou died in 1984 at age 67 from pancreatic cancer.

The Avenue of Heroes military service recognition program is sponsored by the City of Coronado. Established in 2014, the program has honored 309 hometown heroes to date, with another 14 to be recognized on November 1, 2025. City staff and dedicated volunteers from Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2422, the Coronado Historical Association, and the Third and Fourth Streets Neighborhood Association oversee the program’s operation.

The program was inspired in 2011, when the Coronado community spontaneously came together to honor the passage of two Navy SEALs to their final resting place. As news spread, members of the local Rotary Club handed out American flags, and residents lined Fourth Street in tribute. As the procession neared the Coronado Bridge, a lone Navy SEAL stood at attention, saluting his fallen comrades. In that moment, it became clear that Third and Fourth streets were already an Avenue of Heroes.

That moment inspired the City to formalize the program, which officially launched in May 2015 with 18 banners. Since then, the Avenue of Heroes has served as a lasting reminder of Coronado’s deep military roots and enduring legacy of service.

In 2014, Coronado resident Toni McGowan, a devoted advocate for honoring local military members, helped transform the idea into a lasting tradition. Her tireless efforts led the City to designate State Route 282—Third and Fourth streets from Orange Avenue to Naval Air Station North Island—as the “Coronado Avenue of Heroes” and to adopt the companion banner ceremony.

McGowan also worked with the Third and Fourth Streets Neighborhood Association and other partners to have the Avenue of Heroes designated as a Blue Star Memorial Highway, a tribute to the nation’s Armed Forces. The State of California granted this designation in January 2017. Although McGowan passed away in 2019, her dedication and vision continue to inspire the program today.