Robert Max Berger was born in Hanston, Hodgeman County, Kansas, on May 6, 1925. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. Theo Berger. He attended elementary school in Hodgeman and Pawnee counties, and completed three years of high school at the Jetmore (Kansas) High School, in the class of 1944. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on September 8, 1943. He graduated from Army Air Forces Flexible Gunnery School at Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 26, 1944. He married Jeraldine (Stringham) Berger of Logan, Utah, in Avon Park, Florida, on October 2, 1944. They had a son, Karl Robert Berger.
He was assigned as an aerial gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Joseph M. Sugarman Jr. The Sugarman crew completed B-17 crew training (probably at Avon Park, Florida, Combat Crew Training Center) and deployed to England. There it was assigned to the 839th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Lavenham, England. The crew arrived at Lavenham on February 13, 1945, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.
On March 11, 1945, the 487th Bomb Group dispatched 40 aircraft to bomb an industrial area and shipyards on the south bank of the Elbe River in Hamburg, Germany. This was the fifth combat mission for the Sugarman crew. Sgt Berger and eight of his crew mates were killed in action when their aircraft, B-17G 43-38888, was shot down by flak during the bomb run over Hamburg. One man survived.
Memorial services for Sgt Berger were held in the United Presbyterian Church in Jetmore, Kansas, on September 2, 1945. His remains were returned to the United States and reinterred at Fairmount Cemetery in Jetmore, Kansas, on August 27, 1950.
B-17G 43-38888 crew:
• Sugarman Jr, Joseph M – 1/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Crosland Jr, William S – F/O – Copilot – KIA
• Barnett, James S – F/O – Navigator – KIA
• Owen, Charles V – Sgt – Togglier – KIA
• Stanton, Willard W – S/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Schlotte, Harvey F – T/Sgt – Radio Operator – POW
• Mau, Eldon A – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA
• Yaegle, Clyde L – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – KIA
• Berger, Robert M – Sgt – Waist Gunner – KIA
• Simac, Edward A – Sgt – Tail Gunner – KIA
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com