Alfred E. Berger

Stateside

On the twenty second of June we were ready to go. We were to have our regular crew, less our bombardier Elmer Wolfe, plus three passengers one a gunner and two photographers. The first leg of our trip home was to Marrakech, French Morocco, on the west coast of Africa. I didn't see much of the culture of Africa as I was assigned to guard duty on our plane, and we were only staying overnight.

The next morning we were on our way to Lagens, Azores, one of about nine islands located about eight hundred miles west of Portugal, in the Atlantic Ocean. For the first time since leaving the states we got to sleep in a barracks and real bunk beds. Also had a shower with the softest water I ever experienced. We were told the water was collected rainwater and stored for domestic use.

We stayed overnight, and the next day we were to fly to Gander, Newfoundland.

As we approached it, the weather bad Gander closed in, and by radio we were advised to try to land at Harmon Field, Stephensville, Newfoundland. We found the weather clear and we were spending the night there. We walked around the base, as we had plenty of time. At ten 0" clock at night it was still daylight and mechanics were still working outside on planes, so we decided to bit the sack before sunset.

The next morning, June 24th, we were on our way to Bradley Field, Connecticut in the good old USA and leave our B .. 24 there. We were bussed to Camp Miles Standish in Massachusetts, and spent one day there. At this point our crew split up, and were sent to bases depending upon where our homes were. I went to Fort Dix, New Jersey, went through processing and given papers on June 30th to report to San Antonio, Texas on August 3rd after a thirty day furlough.

Following my furlough, I boarded a train for my trip to San Antonio, Texas to the AAF Personnel Distribution Center (AAFPDC}, to be reassigned, probably to the Pacific Theater of operations. The dropping of the atom bomb changed that idea. On August the sixth, Hiroshima, Japan was stricken by the first atom bomb, dropped by the B-29 Enola Gay, and three days later another was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan and the following day, Japan started negotiations to surrender to the United States.

376 ARCHIVES

The website 376bg.org is NOT our site nor is it our endowment fund.

At the 2017 reunion, the board approved the donation of our archives to the Briscoe Center for American History, located on the University of Texas - Austin campus.

Also, the board approved a $5,000 donation to add to Ed Clendenin's $20,000 donation in the memory of his father. Together, these funds begin an endowment for the preservation of the 376 archives.

Donate directly to the 376 Endowment

To read about other endowment donation options, click here.


My Trip to San Pancrazio

October 2019


Reunion

NOTE change in month !!!

DATES: Oct 26-29, 2023

CITY:Tucson, AZ

HOTEL: Double Tree Suites Airport hotel

7051 South Tucson Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85756

520-225-0800


Click here to read about the reunion details.

previous reunions


For Sale

The Other Doolittle Raid


The Broken Wings of Zlatibor


The Liberandos


Three Crawford Brothers


Liberando: Reflections of a Reluctant Warrior


376th Bomb Group Mission History


The Last Liberator


Full Circle


Shadows of Wings


Ten Men, A "Flying Boxcar," and A War


I Survived Ploesti


A Measure of Life


Shot Down In Yugoslavia


Stories of My Life


Attack


Born in Battle


Bombardier's Diary


Lost Airmen


Langdon Liberando