David Donald Berg

Aviation Radioman Third Class, United States Navy

Distinguished Flying Cross & Purple Heart

DAVID DONALD BERG was born on 10 March 1923 in Port Gamble, Kitsap, WA. He was the second of seven children born to Joseph Berg and Hazel Vernon Goplin who married in King County, Washington on 13 Sep 1919. David’s siblings were Wesley Lee, Ella Ruth, Joseph, Helen Ione, Arlene Grace, and Kenneth F. Berg. Joseph, an ambulance driver in Seattle, died suddenly on 10 Oct 1933, leaving his wife and seven young children without income during the heart of the Great Depression. Hazel was probably a force to be reckoned with as she kept her family together during the toughest of times. She married Robert Burns, 38, a logger, in Kingston, WA on 3 July 1942. Hazel Goplin Burns died in Bremerton WA on 02 Apr 1988.

To help with the family’s finances and to pursue a sense of adventure, David, who had completed the 10th grade at the North Kitsap high school, obtained a US Navy application for enlistment on 20 Nov 1940 at the Navy Recruiting Station (NRS) in Bremerton, Kitsap, WA. He completed the necessary paperwork that day and on 28 Nov 1940, Mrs Hazel Berg gave her permission for her son to enlist under a minority contract. On 12 Dec 1940, David traveled to the NRS Seattle, WA where he completed physical and dental exams and was sworn into the US Navy (NSN: 385-94-32) as an Apprentice Seaman (AS). His minority service end date was 09 Mar 1944.

He boarded the train later that day in Seattle bound for the Naval Training Station (NTS) San Diego for 8 weeks of recruit training. He arrived in San Diego on 14 Dec 1940. During that training, Berg took an aptitude test to determine his qualifications for navy professions. His scores indicated an aptitude for communications. After he completed recruit training, AS Berg entered as a student the Communications Service School (Class A) in San Diego. During the 20-week course, Berg was advanced rate to Seaman Second Class (S2c) on 12 April 1941. Upon graduation on 18 Jun 1941, S2c Berg was awarded the designation of Radioman Striker. He was transferred to Commander, Carrier Division One (COMCARDIV One) for assignment on 18 July 1941. Berg was assigned to Bombing Squadron Three (VB-3) later that day. VB-3 was assigned to the aircraft carrier, USS Saratoga (CV-3). S2c Berg first received orders to duty involving flying on 16 Oct 1941. On 01 Jan 1942, S2c Berg advanced in rate with a double promotion to Radioman Third Class (RM3c). After obtaining the necessary training and flight time, RM3 Berg qualified as an Aviation Radioman Third Class (ARM3) on 01 Apr 1942.

On 6 Jan 1941, USS Saratoga (CV-3) entered the Bremerton Navy Yard for a long deferred modernization. She sailed from Bremerton on 28 April 1941. During the next seven months, Saratoga made several trips to Hawaii as the diplomatic crises with Japan worsened and then came to a head. On 7 Dec 1941, Saratoga was entering San Diego after an interim dry-docking in Bremerton. Saratoga hurriedly got underway the next day carrying Marine aircraft destined for the garrison at Wake Island. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 15 Dec stopping only long enough to refuel. She was dispatched to Wake Island to deliver her planes. After a string of delays (some would say blunders) and intelligence that indicated Japanese landings had commenced on the Island, Saratoga and her "relief force" were recalled on 22 Dec. Wake surrendered the next day.

Saratoga continued operations in the sea areas around Hawaii until 11 Jan 1942 when she steamed toward a rendezvous with USS Enterprise, 500 miles southwest of Oahu. Suddenly she was hit by a torpedo fired from the Japanese submarine I-16. Saratoga wasn’t mortally wounded so she steamed under her own power to Pearl Harbor where her Air Group squadrons transferred ashore. After minor repairs in Hawaii, she steamed to the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington for permanent repairs. Her air group squadrons operated from Ford Island and during the next 3 months they were used to train new pilots and as replacement squadrons for the USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise.

On 18 March 1942, Bombing Three with Lcdr Max Leslie as squadron Co was temporarily assigned to replace Enterprise’s Scouting Six (VS-6) on board Enterprise. On 01 Apr, Enterprise got underway for two days of training and pilot landing qualifications. She returned to Pearl Harbor late in the day on 2 April. On 07 April, Enterprise and her squadrons were placed on a 2-hour sailing notice.

The “Big E,” as she was affectionately known, steamed out of Pearl Harbor on 08 April for a mission shrouded in secrecy. VB-3 flew on board later that day. Normally, the mission was divulged to the crew on the first night at sea, however, Admiral Halsey kept this mission a secret. On the morning of 13 April, USS Hornet’s task force appeared on the horizon, her deck sporting many strange looking aircraft. Later that evening, Admiral Halsey dispelled all the rumors by announcing the task force was proceeding on a mission to bomb the Japanese mainland. From that day forward, Enterprise would provide combat air patrol (CAP) coverage as well as reconnaissance flights until Hornet launched Doolittle’s 16 B-25s on 18 April 1942.

On that morning, heavy seas cascaded green water across Enterprise’s flight deck as the morning Combat Air Patrol (CAP) fighters launched at 0508. They were followed by three SBDs of VB-3 – Ltjg Osborne “Ozzie” Wiseman, Ensign Charlie Lane, and Ensign Oley Hanson – to conduct a two-hundred mile search to the West. A fourth Dauntless piloted by Ens. John Quincy “J.Q.” Roberts was launched for an inner-air patrol also to the West. At 0558, Wiseman sighted a small patrol craft forty-two miles from Enterprise. Adhering to previous orders not to attack, Wiseman returned to the ship and dropped a beanbag weighted message on the flight deck reporting his contact. He stated that he believed he had been sighted by the vessel. His sighting was just one of a number of small picket boats that were placed in a line about 700 miles from Japan. They were to act as a trip-wire against an enemy force approaching the Japanese home islands. At 0744, Enterprise lookouts spotted the ninety ton No. 23 Nitto Maru only five miles away. With the second sighting so close Admiral Halsey ordered the immediate launch of Doolittle’s Army B-25s.

Shortly after 0900, the Army B-25s began lifting off Hornet’s flight deck. At 0920, the last of the sixteen Army bombers flew off into history. With the launch completed, the TF put a bone between it's teeth heading East toward Pearl Harbor. Enterprise planes attacked about five of the Japanese picket boats during the day. Radio intercepts of later reports seem to indicate that at least one of the boats was able to sent a contact report to authorities in Japan, but apparently it was received garbled.

At 1130, Enterprise launched thirteen Dauntlesses to scout astern two hundred miles. Of this group, Ensigns Bob Elder, Bob Campbell, and John Butler with ARM3 David D. Berg as rear-seat gunner of VB-3 were sent out alone to search separate sectors to the southwest. At 1245, Ensign Butler engaged a 125-foot long patrol boat towing a smaller boat “painted white.” He made three glide bombing attacks dropping two 100-pound bombs and a 500-pound bomb. Between his bombs and strafing, Butler and gunner David Berg sank the towed boat while receiving several small-caliber bullet holes in the fuselage of their SBD in the process. Shortly before Enterprise and Hornet returned to Hawaii on 25 April 1942, VB-3 flew off the Enterprise and returned to NAS Kaneohe Bay. VS-6 replaced VB-3 on Enterprise.

VB-3 remained at NAS Kaneohe Bay continuing to train until 27 May 1942 when the squadron was directed to report to the USS Yorktown (CV-5) and replace her Scouting Squadron Five. On that day, three quarters of the Yorktown Air Group consisting of Fighting Forty-Two (VF-42), Torpedo Five (VT-5), and Scouting Five (VS-5) were replaced by three squadrons from the displaced air group of the damaged Saratoga. The new replacements included Lcdr. Max Leslie's Bombing Three (VB-3), Lcdr. John "Jimmy" Thach's Fighting Three (VF-3), and Lcdr. Lem Massey's Torpedo Three (VT-3). Yorktown now had two bombing squadrons on board. This caused much confusion on the flight deck and the ship in general. In order to alleviate the situation, Bombing Five was temporarily renamed Scouting Five (VSB-5). The renaming of VB-5 did not sit well with the squadron's personnel, but it did relieve the confusion caused by having two different bombing squadrons on board. Enterprise got underway from Pearl Harbor on 28 May 1942, and with Hornet, steamed toward a point Northeast of Midway called "Point Luck." USS Yorktown (CV-5) followed on 30 May. The forces rendezvoused on 2 Jun 1942.

On 4 Jun 1942, Ensign John Clarence Butler and his radioman-gunner, ARM3 David D. Berg were part of a US naval airborne force that attacked the Japanese Striking Force near Midway. Part of Bombing Squadron Three (VB-3), originally attached to the aircraft carrier, USS Saratoga (CV-3), and now temporarily assigned to the aircraft carrier, USS Yorktown (CV-5), Ensign Butler and Petty Officer Berg launched their dive bomber early in the morning of 4 June 1942. Lcdr Max Leslie, VB-3 Commanding Officer, formed his squadron and at 1023 he led them in the bombing attack on the Japanese aircraft carrier Soryu. VB-3 scored hit after hit. Correctly believing the carrier was doomed, Lt Wiseman and Ens. Butler switched their attack to a nearby battleship, claiming a hit on her stern and a near-miss. After clearing the Japanese task force, elements of VB-3 headed back to the Yorktown. Meanwhile, the Japanese carrier Hiryu launched bombers in a counter attack aimed at Yorktown. Shortly after 1200, she was hit by several bombs which forced her to close her flight deck. Several VB-3 aircraft, including Ensign Butler, were forced to land on USS Enterprise (CV-6). Later in the afternoon (1530) the Enterprise launched an attack against the undamaged Japanese carrier, Hiryu.

During the subsequent successful attack on Hiryu, Ensign Butler's plane was shot down by Japanese fighters. The remains of Butler and Berg were unrecoverable. They were listed as missing in action on 04 Jun 1942 and declared dead on 05 Jun 1943.

On 19 June 1942, Mrs. Berg received a telegram from the Navy Department. It read in part; "The Navy Department deeply regrets to inform you that your son David Donald Berg, Aviation Radioman Third Class, US Navy is missing following action in the performance of his duty and in the service of his country. The Department appreciates your great anxiety and will furnish you further information promptly when received."

The following year, Mrs Hazel Berg (She remarried in 1942 so her name was Burns), received a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, dated 30 June 1943. It read; "After a full review of all available information, I am reluctantly forced to the conclusion that your son, David Donald Berg, Aviation Radioman third class, U.S.N., is deceased. He was officially reported to be missing on 04 June 1942 when the airplane in which he was a gunner failed to return from an attack on the enemy during the Battle of Midway. In accordance with Section 5 of Public Law 490, 77th Congress, as amended, your son's death is presumed to have occurred on the 5 Jun 1943, which is the day following the day of expiration of an absence of twelve months. I extend to you my sincere sympathy in your great loss and hope you may find comfort in the knowledge that your son gave his life for his Country, upholding the highest traditions of the Navy. The Navy shares in your sense of bereavement and feels the loss of his service."

Petty Officer Berg was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Presidential Unit Citation w/ribbon, American Defense Service Medal w/Fleet Clasp (one bronze star in lieu of Fleet Clasp), Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/Fleet Clasp and three bronze stars (one bronze star in lieu of Fleet Clasp), and the World War II Victory Medal. He was not eligible for the Combat Action Ribbon.

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The Distinguished Flying Cross citation reads:

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to David D. Berg, Aviation Radioman Third Class, United States Navy, for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

“For heroic achievement in aerial flight as gunner of an airplane in Bombing Squadron Three in action against enemy Japanese forces in the Battle of Midway, 4 - 6 June 1942. While participating in dive bombing attacks against enemy Japanese naval forces, BERG, coolly disregarding the extreme danger from intense anti-aircraft fire and enemy fighter opposition, continued his resolute and persistent defense of his plane, thereby contributing materially t the success of our forces. His great courage and utter disregard for his own personal safety were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."

For the President,

//s// Frank Knox

Note: Citation transcribed from original in his service record.

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USS Enterprise (CV-6) Presidential Unit Citation reads:

For consistently outstanding performance and distinguished achievement during repeated action against enemy Japanese forces in the Pacific war area, 7 December 1941, to 15 November 1942. Participating in nearly every major carrier engagement in the first year of the war, the Enterprise and her air group, exclusive of far-flung destruction of hostile shore installations throughout the battle area, did sink or damage on her own a total of 35 Japanese vessels and shot down a total of 185 Japanese aircraft. Her aggressive spirit and superb combat efficiency are fitting tribute to the officers and men who so gallantly established her as an ahead bulwark in the defense of the American nation.

Actions of the Enterprise listed in the citation include:

Gilbert and Marshalls Islands raid of 01 Feb 1942;

Wake Island raid, 24 Feb 1942;

Marcus Island raid, 04 Mar 1942;

Doolittle Raid, 18 April 1942;

Battle of Midway, 4-6 Jun 1942;

Occupation of Guadalcanal, 7-8 Aug 1942;

Battle of Stewart Islands, 24 Aug 1942;

Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, 26 Oct 1942;

Battle of Solomon Islands, 14-15 Nov 1942.

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His family also received a commemoration in honor of Petty Officer Berg from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It reads: In grateful memory of David Donald Berg who died in the service of his country at SEA, Pacific Area, ATTACHED U.S.S. YORKTOWN, 5 JUNE 1943 (Presumed). He stands in the unbroken line of patriots who have dared to die that freedom might live and grow and increase its blessings. Freedom lives, and through it, he lives -- in a way that humbles the undertakings of most men.

(Signed) Franklin D. Roosevelt,

President of the United States

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Task Force 16 Citation Recognizing its contribution to the Doolittle Raid, 18 April 1942

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Second World War, it is appropriate that we take time to reflect on the unique and daring accomplishments achieved early in the war by Task Force 16. Sailing westward under sealed orders in April 1942, only four months after the devastating raid on Pearl Harbor, Task Force 16, carrying sixteen Army B-25 bombers, proceeded into history. Facing adverse weather and under constant threat of discovery before bombers could be launched to strike the Japanese homeland, the crews of the ships and LTC Doolittle's bombers persevered. On 18 April 1942 at 14:45, perseverance produced success as radio broadcasts from Japan confirmed the success of the raids. These raids were an enormous boost to the morale of the American people in those early and dark days of the war and a harbinger of the future for the Japanese High Command that had so foolishly awakened "The Sleeping Giant." These exploits, which so inspired the service men and women and the nation live on today and are remembered when the necessity of success against all odds is required.

(Signed) John H.Dalton

Secretary of the Navy

5 May 1995

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Combat Action Ribbon (CR) note:

Navy/Marine flight crews in the Battle of Midway or any aerial combat were NOT eligible for or were awarded the Combat Action Ribbon (CR). See Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual (SECNAVINST M-1650.1 of 16 Aug 2019, Appendix 2C.1.c (3) Amplifying Guidance). It reads in part, “The CR will not be awarded in connection with aerial flight, . . . “ The CR was established in 1969 and made retroactive to 07 Dec 1941. According to the Awards Manual, when deemed appropriate, the award for aerial combat was/is the Air Medal.

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[Bio #262 composed on 11 Aug 2016 and amended/updated on 16 Dec 2022 by Gerry Lawton (GML470)]

Find A Grave memorial page #56115283

Military Hall of Honor Honoree ID#88138

Primary Sources:

ARM3 David Donald Berg, USN, service record obtained from the National Archives, St Louis, MO by Golden Arrow Research, 16 Dec 2022.

Moore, Stephen L., Pacific Payback, The Carrier Aviators Who Avenged Pearl Harbor At the Battle of Midway. Penguin Books, NY, 2014.