|
The Beginning |
| I was born on February 1, 1920 at 1072 Bryant Avenue, Bronx,
New York City. My parents were Sadie and Louis Berman and I had an older
brother Ben, and four years later had a new brother Jerome. I grew up
normally and graduated De Witt Clinton High School in 1937. I then went
to work as an usher in the Brooklyn Paramount theater and six months
later worked as a bookkeeper in a steel fabricating shop. |
|
"Mom" |
|
Sadie and Louis Berman |
|
Ben, Avy and Jerry
|
|
|
|
World War II |
I was inducted
into the army in February of 1942, took all the necessary tests, and was
shipped to Camp Crowder, Missouri. From there I was transferred to Fort
Monmouth to study radio repair. While there, I applied for Officer
Candidate School but was transferred to Fort Slocum, where I reapplied
for OCS. I was then sent to Fort Monmouth for OCS and graduated as a 2nd
Lieutenant in the Signal Corps. I was then shipped to Drew Field, Tampa
Florida where I was put through another 90 days of schooling. Tired of
that I applied to the Air Corps for flight training.
| I was sent to Nashville Tennessee for testing and was
classified as a bombardier. After preflight courses I was sent to
Carlsbad New Mexico for my training. After successfully completing my
course I was sent to Tonopah Nevada for crew training. From there, it
was overseas into the South Pacific area. I left U.S. on December 2,
1944 to fly across the Pacific Ocean. Our stops were Hawaii, Canton Island, Tarawa, Guadalcanal, Biak
and Nadzab. |
|
After some schooling and lectures on jungle warfare I was
assigned to the 22nd Bomb Group known as the Red Raiders. I was sent to Owi which was the rear element of the group and was assigned to the
33rd
Squadron. I was then shipped to Angaur in the western Carolines and
there I started my combat flying. On January 15, 1945 we moved up to the
island of Samar in the Philipines.
|
November 1944 |
Then on March 12, 1945 we moved up to Luzon and Clark
Field. The next stop was Okinawa until the war was over. Then on to
Manila Sept. 20, 1945, getting ready to go home. We sailed from Manila
on the General Brewster on Oct. 19, 1945 and arrived in San Francisco
November 3, 1945.The next few stops, Camp Kohler, Fort Dix, Fort
Monmouth were all local and I went home, for good, on November 19,
1945. I was given my terminal leave at that time and was finally
discharged on Jan. 11, 1946. That was just 6 weeks shy of 4 years in
service. |
|
|
After World War II |
|
|
|
| I met a girl named Bernice Meyer in the synagogue at a
Jewish War Veteran's meeting in the spring of 1946. That summer
Bernice went back home to Manchester New Hampshire but returned to New
York in the fall. We met again and then started dating. By the end of
November she accepted my proposal of marriage and we became officially
engaged. The logical conclusion to our engagement was to be married.
That we did on March 15, 1947. At that time I was in school at Pace
Institute under the GI bill. We moved into a rented bedroom as there
was a scarcity of apartments.
|
|
Bernice and Avy |
We did find an apartment but we had to buy the
furniture from the current resident for $1500.00 That was apartment 4C
at 38 West 182nd Street, Bronx. This was a walkup, which was no
problem until Bernice became pregnant with our first child. Our son,
Larry, was born on January 13, 1949. We decided that we should look
for a house in 1952 because Bernice again became pregnant. Our second
son, Alan, was born on December 14, 1952. |
We had been looking for a house or an apartment and finally
settled on a 6 room, full basement, house at 147-19 7th Avenue,
Whitestone. The house was affordable because our interest and amortization
of a GI mortgage was $62.62 per month.
Our total monthly payment including real estate taxes was an affordable
$84.00. We made some very good friends while living there, namely the Luciano family, the Fontakis family and the Abramoff
family. Although we were of three different faiths, we got along as if we
were related. To this day we are still the same friends and although we
live in different locations, we still meet for lunch or dinner.
|
Alan and Danica |
|
Bernice and Avy
|
|
We moved to Florida in October of 1986 for good,
having sold our house in Whitestone. Our son,
Alan, passed away on August 13, 1995. He had a daughter, my granddaughter Danica,
who turned 19 this year and is now attending college in Nashville,
Tennessee. She just recently finished her freshman year and is ready
to continue. |
|
| Bernice had a mitral valve problem which required
surgery. That was a successful operation and she recovered nicely. She
then contracted Diabetes and was on medication for that. Lastly, she
developed a liver problem and passed away on February 12, 2000. This has not been an easy time for me, but I
will survive. |
Alan and Larry |
|
Mary, Avy, Danica, Bernice and
Larry |
Our other son, Larry, and his wife, Mary, are photographers and attends
various art shows around the country to sell their photos. Lately, Larry
creates web sites for some of his artist friends and is doing quite well.
He has become a maven on computers and I call upon him whenever I have a
problem. I call him my Guru. |
|
|
Mary and Larry |
| On March 10, 2006, Avy passed away in
Orlando Florida. He will be missed by all who knew him. |
|
 Since
Bernice passed away Ethel Luciano has been his friend and watched out for
him. She is a family
friend for over 50 years who lived across the street from us in
Whitestone. The picture of Avy and Ethel was taken at the Orlando JCC
where they spent many Monday afternoons. |
|
