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Casualty Info
Home Town Owensboro, KY
Last Address Box 386 Bowling Green, KY (Wife~Jacqueline J. Berry)
Casualty Date May 13, 1945
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Sea
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial - Honolulu, Hawaii
Wall/Plot Coordinates Court 5 (Cenotaph)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
On May 13, 1945 VF-83 from 05:28 to 09:21 Fifteen Bombers attacked Saeki Airfield, Kyushu/ One Bomber was shot down by anti-aircraft fire. LCDR D.R. Berry, Commanding Officer was in acion and Eardlty, JM ACRM was missing in action.
Comments/Citation:
Name of Award
Navy Cross x3
Year Awarded
1942
Details behind Award:
Awarded for actions during World War II
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Ensign David Render Berry (NSN: 0-83340), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Scouting Plane in Scouting Squadron FIVE (VS-5), attached to the U.S.S. YORKTOWN (CV-5), in action against enemy Japanese forces at Tulagi Harbor on 4 May 1942, and in attacks on an enemy carrier in the Coral Sea on 8 May 1942. These attacks, pressed home in the face of heavy anti-aircraft fire, and on 8 May, opposed by enemy aircraft, resulted in sinking or damaging of a carrier and eight other vessels. His gallant conduct contributed to the success of our forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea. General Orders: Commander in Chief, Pacific: Serial 2885 (July 7, 1942) Action Date: May 4, 7 & 8, 1942 Service: Navy Rank: Ensign Squadron: Scouting Squadron 5 (VS-5) Ship: U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5)
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting a Gold Star in lieu of a Second Award of the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Ensign David Render Berry (NSN: 0-83340), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Scouting Plane in Scouting Squadron FIVE (VS-5), attached to the U.S.S. YORKTOWN (CV-5), in action against enemy Japanese forces at Tulagi Harbor on 4 May 1942, and in the Battle of the Coral Sea on 7 and 8 May 1942. These attacks, vigorously and persistently pressed home in the face of heavy anti-aircraft fire, and on 8 May opposed also by enemy fighters, resulted in the sinking or damaging of at least eight enemy Japanese vessels at Tulagi and the sinking of one carrier and the sinking or severe damaging of another in the Coral Sea. Ensign Berry's conscientious devotion to duty and gallant self-command against formidable odds were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. Action Date: May 4, 7 & 8, 1942 Service: Navy Rank: Ensign Squadron: Scouting Squadron 5 (VS-5) Ship: U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5)
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Second Gold Star in lieu of a Third Award of the Navy Cross to Ensign David Render Berry (NSN: 0-83340), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Scouting Plane in Scouting Squadron FIVE (VS-5), attached to the U.S.S. YORKTOWN (CV-5), in action against enemy Japanese forces near Salamaua and Lae, New Guinea, on 10 March 1942. Ensign Berry pressed home, in the face of heavy anti-aircraft fire, a vigorous and determined dive bombing attack on a light cruiser and scored a direct hit resulting in severe damage and probable destruction of the enemy vessel. By his superb airmanship and outstanding courage he contributed to the destruction of the three enemy ships and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 318 (September 1943) Action Date: March 10, 1942 Service: Navy Rank: Ensign Squadrion: Scouting Squadron 5 (VS-5) Ship: U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5)
Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Battle of Midway
From Month/Year
June / 1942
To Month/Year
June / 1942
Description The Battle of Midway in the Pacific Theater of Operations was one of the most important naval battles of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, the United States Navy (USN), under Admirals Chester W. Nimitz, Frank Jack Fletcher, and Raymond A. Spruance decisively defeated an attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), under Admirals Isoroku Yamamoto, Chuichi Nagumo, and Nobutake Kondo on Midway Atoll, inflicting irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet. Military historian John Keegan called it "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare." It was Japan's first naval defeat since the Battle of Shimonoseki Straits in 1863.
The Japanese operation, like the earlier attack on Pearl Harbor, sought to eliminate the United States as a strategic power in the Pacific, thereby giving Japan a free hand in establishing its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The Japanese hoped that another demoralizing defeat would force the U.S. to capitulate in the Pacific War and thus ensure Japanese dominance in the Pacific.
The Japanese plan was to lure the United States' aircraft carriers into a trap. The Japanese also intended to occupy Midway as part of an overall plan to extend their defensive perimeter in response to the Doolittle air raid on Tokyo. This operation was also considered preparatory for further attacks against Fiji, Samoa, and Hawaii itself.
The plan was handicapped by faulty Japanese assumptions of the American reaction and poor initial dispositions.Most significantly, American codebreakers were able to determine the date and location of the attack, enabling the forewarned U.S. Navy to set up an ambush of its own. Four Japanese aircraft carriers—Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, all part of the six-carrier force that had attacked Pearl Harbor six months earlier—and a heavy cruiser were sunk at a cost of one American aircraft carrier and a destroyer. After Midway and the exhausting attrition of the Solomon Islands campaign, Japan's shipbuilding and pilot training programs were unable to keep pace in replacing their losses, while the U.S. steadily increased its output in both areas.
