9th Air Force, 587th Bomb Squadron, 394th Bomber Group. Please note that the grave marker is incorrect.
Son of Henry Casper and Lucile Terrell Berger, Sr.; Witcher Terrell Berger grew up in Winston-Salem, NC, but moved to the Berger family farm near Greenfield when he reached high school age. He graduated from Gretna High School just before World War II began. Early in the war, he enlisted in the Army Air Force, took his pilot training, and shipped out to fight the air war from England. Normally a pilot pulled a tour of 25 missions and was sent home. However, when Witcher`s first tour ended, he volunteered for an additional 25 missions. He completed that tour in late May 1944, but before going home he decided to take a two-week vacation in Scotland. Returning to London during the first week of June, he learned that something big was going to happen. As an experienced pilot of the B-26 Marauder, he felt that he was needed. He volunteered to stay for the big push, which we know as D-Day. His plane was lost in a mid-air collision over Gillingham, Kent, England in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944. Some years later (c. 1949) after the war ended, his remains were returned to the Berger Family. A funeral was held at Greenfield Baptist Church, Rev. George Lynch officiating. Burial in the Berger Family Cemetery at Greenfield.
Pittsylvania Tribune Obituary
Lt. Berger is County's 1st Victim in Invasion Drive. First Lieutenant Witcher T. Berger, a maruader pilot in England, was killed in action on D-Day, June 6, according to a War Department telegram received by his aunt, Mrs. C. B. Britton of Gretna. Lt. Berger, 24, had completed 50 missions over enemy territory since going overseas in February 1944, and was awarded the Air Medal "for meritorius service" with his medium bomber group a short time before his death. This maruader pilot was reared in Winston-Salem, N. C., by his father, Henry C. Berger, and his aunt, Mrs. Paul O. Hedrick, his mother, Lucile Spotswood Terrell having died when he was an infant. After completing two years of work at R. J. Reynolds High School he made his home with his grandmother, Mrs. Nannie B. Berger, Gretna, Va. He was graduated from Gretna High School in 1937. Previous to Pearl Harbor he had served three years in the Engineering Corps of the U. S. Army. In December, 1941, he volunteered for the Army Air Corps. He completed a course in aviation mechanics at Kessler Field, Miss. Lt. Berger received his pilot wings at Moody Field, Ga. He is survived by two brothers, both pilots; Lt. Armistead B. Berger, a bomber pilot instructor at Roswell, N. M., and Henry C. Berger, a pilot with the Pan American Grace Air Line in Miami, Fla.
Son of Henry Casper and Lucile Terrell Berger, Sr.; Witcher Terrell Berger grew up in Winston-Salem, NC, but moved to the Berger family farm near Greenfield when he reached high school age. He graduated from Gretna High School just before World War II began. Early in the war, he enlisted in the Army Air Force, took his pilot training, and shipped out to fight the air war from England. Normally a pilot pulled a tour of 25 missions and was sent home. However, when Witcher`s first tour ended, he volunteered for an additional 25 missions. He completed that tour in late May 1944, but before going home he decided to take a two-week vacation in Scotland. Returning to London during the first week of June, he learned that something big was going to happen. As an experienced pilot of the B-26 Marauder, he felt that he was needed. He volunteered to stay for the big push, which we know as D-Day. His plane was lost in a mid-air collision over Gillingham, Kent, England in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944. Some years later (c. 1949) after the war ended, his remains were returned to the Berger Family. A funeral was held at Greenfield Baptist Church, Rev. George Lynch officiating. Burial in the Berger Family Cemetery at Greenfield.
Pittsylvania Tribune Obituary
Lt. Berger is County's 1st Victim in Invasion Drive. First Lieutenant Witcher T. Berger, a maruader pilot in England, was killed in action on D-Day, June 6, according to a War Department telegram received by his aunt, Mrs. C. B. Britton of Gretna. Lt. Berger, 24, had completed 50 missions over enemy territory since going overseas in February 1944, and was awarded the Air Medal "for meritorius service" with his medium bomber group a short time before his death. This maruader pilot was reared in Winston-Salem, N. C., by his father, Henry C. Berger, and his aunt, Mrs. Paul O. Hedrick, his mother, Lucile Spotswood Terrell having died when he was an infant. After completing two years of work at R. J. Reynolds High School he made his home with his grandmother, Mrs. Nannie B. Berger, Gretna, Va. He was graduated from Gretna High School in 1937. Previous to Pearl Harbor he had served three years in the Engineering Corps of the U. S. Army. In December, 1941, he volunteered for the Army Air Corps. He completed a course in aviation mechanics at Kessler Field, Miss. Lt. Berger received his pilot wings at Moody Field, Ga. He is survived by two brothers, both pilots; Lt. Armistead B. Berger, a bomber pilot instructor at Roswell, N. M., and Henry C. Berger, a pilot with the Pan American Grace Air Line in Miami, Fla.
9th Air Force, 587th Bomb Squadron, 394th Bomber Group. Please note that the grave marker is incorrect.
Son of Henry Casper and Lucile Terrell Berger, Sr.; Witcher Terrell Berger grew up in Winston-Salem, NC, but moved to the Berger family farm near Greenfield when he reached high school age. He graduated from Gretna High School just before World War II began. Early in the war, he enlisted in the Army Air Force, took his pilot training, and shipped out to fight the air war from England. Normally a pilot pulled a tour of 25 missions and was sent home. However, when Witcher`s first tour ended, he volunteered for an additional 25 missions. He completed that tour in late May 1944, but before going home he decided to take a two-week vacation in Scotland. Returning to London during the first week of June, he learned that something big was going to happen. As an experienced pilot of the B-26 Marauder, he felt that he was needed. He volunteered to stay for the big push, which we know as D-Day. His plane was lost in a mid-air collision over Gillingham, Kent, England in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944. Some years later (c. 1949) after the war ended, his remains were returned to the Berger Family. A funeral was held at Greenfield Baptist Church, Rev. George Lynch officiating. Burial in the Berger Family Cemetery at Greenfield.
Pittsylvania Tribune Obituary
Lt. Berger is County's 1st Victim in Invasion Drive. First Lieutenant Witcher T. Berger, a maruader pilot in England, was killed in action on D-Day, June 6, according to a War Department telegram received by his aunt, Mrs. C. B. Britton of Gretna. Lt. Berger, 24, had completed 50 missions over enemy territory since going overseas in February 1944, and was awarded the Air Medal "for meritorius service" with his medium bomber group a short time before his death. This maruader pilot was reared in Winston-Salem, N. C., by his father, Henry C. Berger, and his aunt, Mrs. Paul O. Hedrick, his mother, Lucile Spotswood Terrell having died when he was an infant. After completing two years of work at R. J. Reynolds High School he made his home with his grandmother, Mrs. Nannie B. Berger, Gretna, Va. He was graduated from Gretna High School in 1937. Previous to Pearl Harbor he had served three years in the Engineering Corps of the U. S. Army. In December, 1941, he volunteered for the Army Air Corps. He completed a course in aviation mechanics at Kessler Field, Miss. Lt. Berger received his pilot wings at Moody Field, Ga. He is survived by two brothers, both pilots; Lt. Armistead B. Berger, a bomber pilot instructor at Roswell, N. M., and Henry C. Berger, a pilot with the Pan American Grace Air Line in Miami, Fla.
Son of Henry Casper and Lucile Terrell Berger, Sr.; Witcher Terrell Berger grew up in Winston-Salem, NC, but moved to the Berger family farm near Greenfield when he reached high school age. He graduated from Gretna High School just before World War II began. Early in the war, he enlisted in the Army Air Force, took his pilot training, and shipped out to fight the air war from England. Normally a pilot pulled a tour of 25 missions and was sent home. However, when Witcher`s first tour ended, he volunteered for an additional 25 missions. He completed that tour in late May 1944, but before going home he decided to take a two-week vacation in Scotland. Returning to London during the first week of June, he learned that something big was going to happen. As an experienced pilot of the B-26 Marauder, he felt that he was needed. He volunteered to stay for the big push, which we know as D-Day. His plane was lost in a mid-air collision over Gillingham, Kent, England in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944. Some years later (c. 1949) after the war ended, his remains were returned to the Berger Family. A funeral was held at Greenfield Baptist Church, Rev. George Lynch officiating. Burial in the Berger Family Cemetery at Greenfield.
Pittsylvania Tribune Obituary
Lt. Berger is County's 1st Victim in Invasion Drive. First Lieutenant Witcher T. Berger, a maruader pilot in England, was killed in action on D-Day, June 6, according to a War Department telegram received by his aunt, Mrs. C. B. Britton of Gretna. Lt. Berger, 24, had completed 50 missions over enemy territory since going overseas in February 1944, and was awarded the Air Medal "for meritorius service" with his medium bomber group a short time before his death. This maruader pilot was reared in Winston-Salem, N. C., by his father, Henry C. Berger, and his aunt, Mrs. Paul O. Hedrick, his mother, Lucile Spotswood Terrell having died when he was an infant. After completing two years of work at R. J. Reynolds High School he made his home with his grandmother, Mrs. Nannie B. Berger, Gretna, Va. He was graduated from Gretna High School in 1937. Previous to Pearl Harbor he had served three years in the Engineering Corps of the U. S. Army. In December, 1941, he volunteered for the Army Air Corps. He completed a course in aviation mechanics at Kessler Field, Miss. Lt. Berger received his pilot wings at Moody Field, Ga. He is survived by two brothers, both pilots; Lt. Armistead B. Berger, a bomber pilot instructor at Roswell, N. M., and Henry C. Berger, a pilot with the Pan American Grace Air Line in Miami, Fla.
Inscription
1LT, US ARMY AIR FORCES WORLD WAR II
Gravesite Details
http://gillinghamb26crash.weebly.com/index.html
