Charles J. Berry

Charles Joseph Berry (July 10, 1923 – March 3, 1945) was a Corporal in the Marine Corps who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions during World War II.

After graduating high school Berry enlisted in the Marine Corps and upon graduating recruit training in South Carolina was stationed in Quantico Virginia and then North Carolina before being sent with 1st Parachute Battalion to fight in the Solomon Islands. After leaving North Carolina he went on to fight at Bougainville and then went to Guadalcanal for a short time before being sent to San Diego, California. While stationed at Camp Elliott in San Diego he was attached to the 5th Marine Division before being sent to the Hawaiian Islands and receiving the rank of corporal.

He landed on Iwo Jima on D-Day, February 19, 1945, and was killed in action on March 3, 1945, during the action which earned him the Medal of Honor. Initially buried in the 5th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima, he was re-interred in Elmwood Cemetery, Lorain, Ohio, in 1948.

Biography Charles Joseph Berry was born in Lorain, Ohio, on July 10, 1923 and graduated from Clearview High School (Lorain, Ohio) in 1941. After graduation he went to work as a truck driver for a moving concern.

He enlisted in the Marine Corps in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 1, 1941 when he was 18 years of age and was ordered to Parris Island, South Carolina, where he received his recruit training.

/S/HARRY S. TRUMAN

Posthumous honors The Erie Avenue Bridge in Lorain, Ohio, was renamed the Charles Berry Bridge in 1988, in honor of Cpl Berry, a native son of the city. The destroyer escort (DE-1035) was named in his honor.