This Deceased Air Force Profile is not currently maintained by any Member.
If you would like to take responsibility for researching and maintaining this Deceased profile please click
HERE
Lt. Col. Seymour Berman Ret. - Cocoa Beach - On June 25, 2010, Ret. Lt. Col. Seymour Berman passed away peacefully at home from natural causes while under hospice and family care. Sy was born in Wilmington, Delaware on September 24, 1916 and has resided in Cocoa Beach since 1966. As a 14-year-old, he was the youngest boy in Delaware to achieve Eagle Scout rank. He served in the USAF from 1941-1961 participating in WWII, the Berlin Airlift and the Korean War. Sy had a distinguished military career, starting as an aviation cadet in 1941. His finest WWII hours were with the 483rd Bomb Group at Foggia, Italy in 1944. During two combat tours in Europe as a navigator flying in B-17s, he survived 57 missions that included Ploesti, Budapest, Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Weiner Newstadt, Augsburg, Schweinfurt and Regensburg earning the rank of Major. His significant battle highlights included: 1. Destroying the oil refining facilities at Ploesti, Romania. 2. Leading missions to bomb Monte Cassino to open the road to Rome and release the U.S. Army Troops tied down at the Anzio Beachhead. 3. Missions to support the landing of about 50,000 American, French and British Troops in southern France. His combat awards include the Distinguished Flying Cross, 2 Purple Hearts and The Air Medal with 9 Oak Leaf Clusters. He also was awarded the French Freedom Medal for his support in liberating Paris and France, Russian WWII Victory Medal and the Greek Victory medal for distinguished service. His 483rd Bomb Group received 2 Presidential citations for combat. After his military career, Sy worked for Honeywell, Chrysler and Federal Electric in the Space industry at the Cape. He owned American BB Realty, a real estate brokerage office in Cocoa Beach. Sy also served on the Development Council for Circles of Care, and as a charter life member of Military Officers Association of America. In addition, he served the Cape Canaveral Chapter of the Air Force Association, Brevard Veterans Council, Optimist Club of Cocoa Beach, and the Retired Officers Club at Patrick Air Force Base. His wife of 66 years Betty J. Berman and children Patricia, Michael, Thomas and Daniel and many loving grandchildren and great-grandchildren, survive him. A memorial service will be held at 1 pm, Friday, July 9, 2010 at the Patrick AFB South Chapel, 121 Alamanda Ave., Satellite Beach, FL 32937. Interment with full military honors will be held at Arlington National Cemetery at 3 pm, Thursday, October 14, 2010. You may sign Seymour's guestbook at www.beckman-williamson.com.
Description The military stalemate continued throughout the winter of 1952-1953. Allied Sabrejet pilots, meantime, persisted in destroying MiGs at a decidedly favorable ratio. In December the Communists developed an ambush tactic against F-86 pilots patroling along the Yalu River: MiG pilots would catch the UN aircraft as they ran short of fuel and headed south to return to base. During these engagements, some of the F-84 pilots exhausted their fuel and had IO bail out over Cho-do Island, 60 miles southwest of Pyongyang.
United Nations forces held the island and maintained an air rescue detachment there for such emergencies. To avoid combat while low on fuel, Sabre pilots began to fly home over the Yellow Sea. MiG pilots at this time generally sought the advantages of altitude, speed, position, and numbers before engaging in aerial combat. The UN pilots, on the other hand, relied on their skills to achieve aerial victories, even though they were outnumbered and flying aircraft that did not quite match the flight capabilities of the MiG-15s.
One memorable battle occurred on February l8, 1953, near the Sui-ho Reservoir on the Yalu River, 110 miles north of Pyongyang; 4 F-86Fs attacked 48 MiGs, shot down 2, and caused 2 others to crash while taking evasive action. All 4 U.S. aircraft returned safely to their base. While the Fifth Air Force maintained air superiority over North Korea during daylight hours, the Far East Air Forces Bomber Command on nighttime missions ran afoul of increasingly effective Communist interceptors. The aging B- 29s relied on darkness and electronic jamming for protection from both interceptors and antiaircraft gunfire, but the Communists used spotter aircraft and searchlights to reveal bombers to enemy gun crews and fighter-interceptor pilots.
As B-29 losses mounted in late 1952, the Bomber Command compressed bomber formations to shorten the time over targets and increase the effectiveness of electronic countermeasures. The Fifth Air Force joined the Navy and Marines to provide fighter escorts to intercept enemy aircraft before they could attack the B-29s. Bomber Command also restricted.missions along the Yalu to cloudy, dark nights because on clear nights contrails gave away the bombers' positions. FEAF lost no more B-29s after January 1953, although it continued its missions against industrial targets. On March 5 the B-29s penetrated deep into enemy territory to bomb a target at Chongjin in northeastern Korea, only 63 miles from the Soviet border. While Bomber Command struck industrial targets throughout North Korea during the winter of 1952-1953, the Fifth Air Force cooperated with the U.S. Navy's airmen in attacks on supplies, equipment, and troops near the from fines.
In December 1952 the Eighth Army moved its bombline from 10,000 to 3,000 meters from the front lines, enabling Fifth Air Force and naval fighter-bombers to target areas closer to American positions. Beyond the front lines, the Fifth Air Force focused on destroying railroads and bridges, allowing B-26s to bomb stalled vehicles. In January 1953 the Fifth Air Force attempted to cut the 5 railroad bridges over the Chongchon Estoary near Sinanju, 40 miles north of Pyongyang. Expecting trains to back up in marshaling yards at Sinanju, Bomber Command sent B-29s at night to bomb them, but these operations hindered enemy transportation only briefly.
As the ground thawed in the spring, however, the Communist forces had greater difficulty moving supplies and reinforcements in the face of the Fifth Air Force's relentless attacks on transportation. At the end of March 1953, the Chinese Communist government indicated its willingness to exchange injured and ill prisoners of war and discuss terms for a cease-fire in Korea. On April 20 Communist and United Nations officials began an exchange of POWs, and 6 days later, resumed the sessions at Panmunjom.
