World War II Honoree

Charles Nelson Berry, Jr.

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Ada, Oklahoma

Honored By

Robert S. Cox

ENTERED NAVAL SERVICE IN 1941. SERVED IN THE AMERICAN, EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN AND ASIATIC-PACIFIC THEATERS. ASSIGNED TO THE WHITE HOUSE MAP ROOM IN WASHINGTON, D.C. AND SERVED PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT FOR 1 YEAR. REASSIGNED TO THE BATTLESHIP USS IOWA (BB-61) AND SERVED ABOARD AS A LIEUTENANT FOR 28 MONTHS IN THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEAN AREAS. HIS SHIP CARRIED PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT TO CASABLANCA, FRENCH MOROCCO IN THE FALL OF 1943 ON THE FIRST LEG OF HIS TRIP TO THE TEHERAN CONFERENCE IN IRAN IN NOVEMBER. AFTER THE CONFERENCE, THE SHIP RETURNED THE PRESIDENT TO THE U.S. SAILED FROM THE UNITED STATES ON JANUARY 2, 1944 FOR DUTY IN THE PACIFIC AND PARTICIPATED IN CAMPAIGNS FOR THE MARSHALL, CAROLINE AND MARIANA ISLANDS. TOOK PART IN THE BATTLE OF THE PHILIPPINE SEA ON JUNE 19, 1944. HIS SHIP THEN HELPED SUPPORT LANDINGS ON PELELIU IN THE PALAU ISLANDS IN SEPTEMBER 1944, AND THE INVASION OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS FROM OCTOBER-DECEMBER, 1944. WAS ATTENDING THE NAVAL WAR COLLEGE IN NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND AT THE TIME THE WAR ENDED. HONORABLY DISCHARGED IN 1945 AND ISSUED THE HONORABLE SERVICE LAPEL BUTTON.