WWII veteran among those honoring Colorado's fallen this Memorial Day
At a spry 101 years of age, Howard Berger exudes pure joy.
"I'll be going on 102 if I make it to November 12," he said with a smile.
He's also a true American hero.
"I did my best," Berger said.
Howard Berger
Howard Berger
It's been more than eight decades since he served with the U.S. Army in World War II, yet he remembers it all as clear as day.
"We were in a forest, and we saw a German spotter plane," Berger recalled. "The Germans shelled our area… and the bombs would hit trees, and splinters would go all over. Seven of my men were hit. I was away from my foxhole when the bombs started coming over, so I jumped into a foxhole, but it wasn't my foxhole. I was in somebody else's, and I jumped on top of him and scared the dickens out of him, but I didn't get hurt, fortunately."
Berger's military service began the day after his 19th birthday, on November 13, 1942. Following in the footsteps of his father, who served as a machine gunner during World War I, Berger chose to serve in the Army. After two years of basic training in New Jersey, Georgia, and Louisiana, 21-year-old Staff Sergeant Berger was shipped off to Europe as part of the 580th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion.
"Went over on the Queen Elizabeth, a boatload of 15,000 troops. Terrible trip. Weather was terrible, cold," he said.
By the spring of 1945, Berger's unit reached the Rhine River in Germany. What he remembers most from that time still breaks his heart to this day.
"I get mail, an envelope, telling me my," pausing as he chokes up with tears, "My best friend was killed."
CBS News Colorado's Kelly Werthmann with WWII vet Howard Berger.
CBS
Private First-Class Harold Marin, one of Berger's closest friends from their school days together in New York, was killed in action in Belgium.
"I got my rifle out, I was looking for Germans to shoot," Berger said through tears, explaining his urge for revenge. "Fortunately, I didn't find any… but it was a tough time."
As another Memorial Day approaches, Berger is holding his fallen friends close to his heart.
"A lot of our troops were killed. Friends were killed on D-Day. They were running and just murdered right on the beaches," he said, holding back more tears. "So, I pay respect to them, and I honor them. Those are the heroes."
Those heroes will also be honored at the Colorado Freedom Memorial in Aurora this weekend. That is where Berger will join other WWII veterans, local and state leaders, and families in paying tribute to generations of Colorado's fallen servicemembers and those still serving today.
"We appreciate being acknowledged and not forgotten, and that's important," said Berger. "We should never forget."
And, Berger said, when his time comes to join his late wife, Dorothy, who served with the U.S. Marine Corps and is interred at Fort Logan National Cemetery, he hopes he, too, won't be forgotten.
Howard Berger
CBS
"I want to be remembered as helping others," he said. "I am very proud of being a WWII veteran because I'm alive… and I helped serve the troops after the war was over… We got to remember them, and I do."
Additional Information from the Colorado Freedom Memorial:
Presented by the City of Aurora and the Colorado Freedom Memorial Foundation, festivities begin at 8 a.m. Saturday with a free pancake breakfast and music.
The Remembrance Ceremony begins at 10 a.m. and will feature an F-16 flyover by the 140th Wing of the Colorado Air National Guard, comments from Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, Congressman Jason Crow, and Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, and recognition of all WWII veterans who may be in attendance. A proclamation from Gov. Jared Polis will also be read.
Agenda for Saturday, May 24:
8 - 10 a.m. Free Pancake Breakfast, donations to CFM welcome
Music by All American Big Band
Military artifact exhibits
10 - 11:30 a.m. Colorado Remembers Ceremony
F-16 Flyover
Tolling of Honor Bell
Wreath Laying
11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Military Vehicle Collectors of Colorado Vehicles on display
History Colorado Exhibit
While donations are accepted, the entire day's events are free and open to the public.
The Colorado Freedom Memorial is located at Aurora's Memorial Park at 756 Telluride St.
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