Early Life
John Burns was born in Fort Assinniboine, Montana on March 30, 1909. He was the eldest son of Anne and Harry Burns. Christened Harry John Burns, as a teenager he changed his name to John Anthony Burns. Burns’ father was in the Army and was ordered to Fort Shafter, so in 1913 he and his family moved to Hawaii, and eventually to Kalihi. Harry Burns became overwhelmed with responsibility for four children and left the family in 1919. Burns' mother became a launderer for Tripler Army Medical Center. Burns took care of his siblings and attended Saint Louis School, while his mother worked. She joined the Postal Service, and with the help of her brother, became postmistress for Fort Shafter and a clerk at the Honolulu Post office. In 1925 Anne sent John to live with her brother in Kansas, where Jack Scally served as a father figure. In Kansas he attended Immaculata High School in Leavenworth, then transferred to St. Benedict High School in Atchison. In 1927 Burns dropped out of high school and joined the Army, but did not like taking orders. He was honorably discharged after one year. Burns returned to Hawaii, waiting a semester to attend Saint Louis School and eventually graduate in 1930.
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