Oliver Fuller Berry (March 8, 1908 - September 13, 1991) was a chief petty officer in the United States Coast Guard who was chosen to be the namesake for the twenty-fourth cutter of the Sentinel class.[1] He was one of the first Coast Guard aircraft technicians trained to work on helicopters.[2]
Oliver Fuller Berry | |
|---|---|
 Oliver Berry in September 1946 | |
| Born | March 8, 1908 Marion, South Carolina, US |
| Died | September 13, 1991 (aged 83) Florence, South Carolina, US |
| Buried | Mount Hope Cemetery, Florence |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service | United States Coast Guard |
| Years of service | 1928–1950 |
| Rank | Chief Petty Officer |
Early life
editBerry was born in Marion, South Carolina, and graduated from The Citadel in 1928; originally an officer in the United States Army Reserve he gave up his commission to enlist in the Coast Guard.
Coast Guard service
editBerry became a highly skilled mechanic working on early Coast Guard aircraft both land based and seaplanes. He was also one of the world's first experts on the maintenance of helicopters and was lead instructor at the first military helicopter training unit, the Rotary Wing Development Unit, which was established at Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, in 1946. He also helped develop the rescue hoist.
In the same year, Berry played a role in a helicopter rescue from a US base in Gander, Newfoundland, that earned him a commendation. Helicopters were new to search and rescue and one was urgently required to search for survivors of a commercial airliner crash in Newfoundland. Berry was able to quickly disassemble one of the primitive helicopters of the time so that its parts could be flown to Gander in a cargo plane and then quickly reassemble it in time to find and rescue several survivors. He was awarded the Silver Medal of the Order of Leopold II by Prince Charles, the Royal Regent of Belgium, for his contribution to the rescue of eighteen Belgian citizens.[3]
Legacy
edit
The Coast Guard established an annual award named after Berry, issued to an outstanding aircraft technician who best followed his tradition.
In 2015, the Coast Guard announced that one of the new Sentinel class cutters would be named after Berry. All the ships in that class are named after enlisted personnel who distinguished themselves through a heroic act. Bollinger shipyards completed the USCGC Oliver F. Berry (WPC 1124) and delivered her to the Coast Guard, in Key West, for her sea trials, on June 27, 2017. Commissioning took place at the vessel's home port of Honolulu, Hawaii, on October 31, 2017.[4]
References
edit- ^ Eric Haun (2017-06-27). "Bollinger Delivers FRC Oliver Berry to the USCG". Marine Link. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
Bollinger Shipyards said it has delivered the Fast Response Cutter (FRC) USCGC Oliver Berry to the U.S. Coast Guard on June 27, 2017 in Key West, Fla. The vessel's commissioning is scheduled for October 2017 in Honolulu.
- ^ "The Chief Oliver F. Berry Aviation Maintenance Award" (PDF). United States Coast Guard.
- Christopher Havern (February 20, 2015). "Coast Guard Heroes: Oliver F. Berry". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on February 3, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- "2010 CHIEF OLIVER F. BERRY AVIATION MAINTENANCE AWARD RECIPIENT".
- "The Cold War: 1946-1949" (PDF). - ^ "USCGC Oliver Berry (WPC 1124) Coat of Arms". The Institute of Heraldry. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
- ^ "Coast Guard Cutter Oliver Berry (WPC 1124)". Hawaii News and Island Information. Retrieved February 20, 2020.