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Nicole Summers, MMFN
to remember
Bergfeld, William Vincent, EM1.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Mattoon, IL
Last Address 2801 Shelby Ave. Mattoon. IL
Casualty Date Nov 08, 1944
Cause KIA-Body Not Recovered
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location South China Sea
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Manila American Cemetery and Memorial - Manila, Philippines
Wall/Plot Coordinates (cenotaph)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
USS Growler's (SS-215) final war patrol began in Freemantle, Australia, 20 October 1944, operating in wolfpack with two other submarines. On 8 November, in concert with Hake and Harder, the order to commence firing was given attacking a convoy. Growler was never heard from again, and the cause of her sinking is unknown. Electrician's Mate First Class Bergfeld was listed as Missing in Action and later declared dead 8 November 1945.
Comments/Citation:
Service number: 3375134
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
September / 1945
Description The plan of the Pacific subseries was determined by the geography, strategy, and the military organization of a theater largely oceanic. Two independent, coordinate commands, one in the Southwest Pacific under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and the other in the Central, South, and North Pacific (Pacific Ocean Areas) under Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, were created early in the war. Except in the South and Southwest Pacific, each conducted its own operations with its own ground, air, and naval forces in widely separated areas. These operations required at first only a relatively small number of troops whose efforts often yielded strategic gains which cannot be measured by the size of the forces involved. Indeed, the nature of the objectivesùsmall islands, coral atolls, and jungle-bound harbors and airstrips, made the employment of large ground forces impossible and highlighted the importance of air and naval operations. Thus, until 1945, the war in the Pacific progressed by a double series of amphibious operations each of which fitted into a strategic pattern developed in Washington.
