Joe Burk was a lanky, wide-eyed New Jersey kid who couldn't keep away from water. In the time he could spare from helping his father raise apples and peaches, he learned to row, eventually became the world's sculling champion. War brought Joe, appropriately, to the Navy. The Navy made him an officer and skipper of a speedy PT boat.
Thereafter Ensign Burk concentrated on a particular target: Jap landing barges. Soon he found himself a champ for the second time in his life. His record: 13 Jap barges sent to the bottom, an assist on a 14th.
In Bridgeboro, N.J., Joe...
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