A Company 1st Battalion 35th Infantry, Korea 1950–51, 1st Arm Rifle Battalion 54th Inf 4th Armor Div 1959–60, 1st Brigade 1st Div Republic of Viet Nam 1966–67, 101st Airborne Division, Assistant Division Commander, Republic of Viet Nam 1970–1971, 101st Airborne Div 197374, Superintendent, United States Military Academy, V Corps, US Army, Europe 1977–80.[1]
Berry was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on February 10, 1926.[2] He received his appointment to the academy from Mississippi, graduating 160th in his class from West Point in 1948.[3] He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry branch, and assigned to his first unit in Japan in 1949.[3]
Military career
Berry's career spanned two wars. He first saw duty as a company commander in Korea. For service during the war in Korea, he was awarded two Silver Stars, a Bronze Star for Valor, a Purple Heart, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.[4]
After duty in the Korean War, he earned a graduate degree from Columbia University (1951–1953).[4] He then served as an instructor at West Point in the Department of Social Sciences (1953–1956).[5] He was a military assistant to Secretary of DefenseRobert McNamara (1961–1964), traveling to South Vietnam on multiple occasions. 1964–65, Berry was a student at the U.S. Army War College, in Carlisle Barracks, PA.[1] He also served a year at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York City (1967–1968).[6]
He would serve two and a half years in the Vietnam War between 1965 and 1971. His second combat wound occurred during his first tour (1965–1966) when he was serving as senior Military Assistance Command, Vietnam adviser to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam7th Division.[7] His awards for his service in South Vietnam included the Distinguished Service Medal, 2 Silver Stars, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Legions of Merit, the Purple Heart, 42 Air Medals, and a second Combat Infantryman Badge.[4]
Berry became the 50th Superintendent of West Point in 1974. His time there would be trying, as he oversaw the integration of women in the summer of 1976 while at the same time dealing with a massive honor scandal involving cheating on an academic test involving the junior class.[8][9] Following his tour as USMA Superintendent, Berry commanded the V Corps, US Army, Europe, from 1977 to 1980. He retired from active military service on 1 March 1980.[10]
Upon retirement from the military Berry served as Mississippi's Commissioner of Public Safety, 1980–1984. He then retired to Pennsylvania.[4][11]
Berry died at a retirement home in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, on July 1, 2013, of complications from Parkinson's disease. At his death he was 87 and was survived by his wife of 64 years, Anne; two daughters, a son and 12 grandchildren.[12]
^ abcdRegister of Graduates and Former Cadets of the United States Military Academy West Point. West Point, NY: The West Point Association of Graduates. 2008. pp. 3–143.
