Jim, I would wait to prune that much until it was obvious beyond a doubt the upper limbs were dead.

How bad was your spring? What part of Kansas are you in?

Driving to Denver many of the trees along 70 looked pretty rough. Do these typically do well in your area?

Yeah, wait til late summer or fall unless you do the "scratch test" (scratch the bark and see if the branch is green (alive) or brown (dead)).

Tornado, our spring was early but not and overabundance of moisture during the winter.I live about 35 miles west of KC,and yes these trees are suppose to do well in this area.
Famartin, I have never done the scratch test any certain part of the branch should I scratch? Near where the branch meets the trunk?
I will wait awhile before I trim but they sure look like crap in my yard. Someone told me years ago that if you trim a little off of the tree it will help stimulate the growth but I don't know about that, has anyone ever heard of this?
Thanks for the response guys and have a nice day. Jimnks

Any old branch will do... see link below

Here is a link that might be useful: Branch scratch test