Chief Petty Officer Burke was an Human male who enlisted and served as a Starfleet command division soldier during the late-24th century.
In 2373, he fought on Ajilon Prime when it was attacked by Klingons during the Federation-Klingon War. His platoon was forced to withdraw in a hopper due to the Klingons' use of transport inhibitors. Chief Burke stayed behind to cover the hopper and eventually died due to injuries that he sustained during the battle. Jake Sisko was with Burke before his death. (DS9: "Nor the Battle to the Strong")
Background information[]
Burke was played by recurring Star Trek guest actor Danny Goldring. He was one of three characters to wear to CPO in rank insignia designed for DS9.
The tattered uniform "flack jacket" as worn by Goldring was sold in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction for US$104.50.[1](X)
The name Burke (Chief) originated from the source's script. In his description, he is described as, "a badly wounded Starfleet Lieutenant, his uniform soaked with blood – he's BURKE, a seasoned combat veteran of about forty," indicating a birth year of approximately 2333. [2]
The original story for the episode had the Klingons attacking a Cardassian medical facility with the character of Burke originally being that of a wounded Klingon warrior. Writer René Echevarria later recalled, "The warrior has been blinded in battle, and he decides that he needs Jake to help him survive, so he forces Jake to stay with him. In that permutation of the script, they were there for days, and they come to have this strange admiration for each other. Eventually, Jake tells him how he came to be there, and the warrior is so appalled that he throws Jake out of the foxhole, because he doesn't want to die with a coward. I was very attached to the scene, and Ira [Behr] and I had a bit of a tussle about it." Ultimately, with the change of story premise the scene had to be changed and the character became the Human, Burke. Echevarria later admitted that in hindsight Behr was right and described Burke's character as being, "as tough as a Klingon." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 381)