They've been c~I!L~.K-. e~~(~atest Generation."They grew up during ft1f~.pr~ 10lfri~nafought to defeat

Fascism all over the 9~~~_ir eigl1ties, theseveterans are losing thmrcomr~e~~arms at the rate ofmore than 1,400 per day. Northwes't Quarterly recentlyasked some local veterans to share their memories of war.

,.,

92 NorthwestQUarterlY~ Spring2007.

They've been c~I!L~.K-. e~~(~atest Generation."They grew up during ft1f~.pr~ 10lfri~nafought to defeat

Fascism all over the 9~~~_ir eigl1ties, theseveterans are losing thmrcomr~e~~arms at the rate ofmore than 1,400 per day. Northwes't Quarterly recentlyasked some local veterans to share their memories of war.

,.,

92 Northwest QUarterlY~ Spring 2007~I\!';y, ":, i\

..ii:'. *"_ ~ _ _

Story by Jon McGintyLayout by Scott Schwalbach

Kaare (pronouncedCORY) Nevdal, Rockford,

Ill., was just 19 when the Germansinvaded his homeland of Norway onApril 9, 1940. Life in his small, westcoast village near Bergen soonbecame intolerable under the occu-

pation. By the following spring, hedecided to escape to England.

"1 couldn't stand not to be free,"recalls Nevdal. "We had to carryidentity papers everywhere, andsomeone was always watching us. IfI stayed much longer in Norway, Iknew I would end up in jail."

After one escape attempt wasthwarted by a North Sea storm,Nevdal succeeded in reaching theShetland Islands by fishing boat onMarch 15, 1941. He went to Londonto enlist in the Royal Norwegian AirForce, and the Norwegian govem-ment-in-exile sent him to Toronto,Canada, for training.

While in Canada, Nevdal visitedhis aunt in Rockford, who sent a pic-ture of the two of them to Nevdal's

family in Norway, claiming it washer and her son, in order to foolGerman censors. This was the first

indication his family had thatNevdal was still alive. He also methis future wife, Muriel, in Toronto.

After completing his training as aradio operator/gunner in 1942,Nevdal was sent to Iceland where he

joined the 330th squadron of CoastalConunand. He flew on long, tediousanti-submarine patrols and convoyescort duty in the North Atlantic,first in N3PB ~s, then in PBYCatalina float tJ'{fn~£!fiQDf'>

In March of 1943, Nevdal wastransferred to Scotland in theShetland Islands. From there he flew

patrols along the Norwegian coast-line in huge, four-engine Sunderlandflying boats. The Germans calledthem "flying porcupines" becausethey had so many guns (18) onboard. One purpose of these ilightswas to keep German submarinesfrom surfacing, thus slowing themdown and making it difficult forthem to attack Allied shipping ontheir way to Russia. But in May of1944, Nevdal's plane caught one onthe surface.

"We dropped depth charges on thesub from about 50 feet above thewater," recalls Nevdal, "but it tooktwo attacks. All the time they wereshooting at us and we were shootingat them. The nose gunner was killed

during the battle."The attack was successful,

and on May 16, 1944, the U-240, a type VIIc German sub-marine, sank to the bottomwith all 50 crewmen.

Later that year Nevdal wasagain re-assigned, this time toa special unit which flew

I civilian aircraft in and out of~ neutral Sweden. His unit car-

ried VIPs, spies, and impor-tant documents betweenStockholm and St. Andrews,Scotland.

JNevdal'sAuntin Rockford,III.,sentthisphoto

of the twoof themto Nevdal'sfamilyin

Norwayto let themknowhewasstillalive.

"We had BOAC uniforms and

British passports," says Nevdal."Sometimes we even transportedescapees from Norway."

Since Sweden was neutral but

blockaded by belligerents, some con-sumer goods were available inStockholm that were unattainable inwar-rationed Scotland. Nevdal's

cousin's wife asked him to bring hera girdle on one of his ilights.

Kame Nevdalwas in Norwaywhen the Germansinvadedhis

homeland in 1940. (JonMcGinty photo)

"1 had to smuggle it out by wear-ing it under my uniform," saysNevdal. "It was very uncomfortable.I gained lots of sympathy for ladieswho wore them."

Nevdal recalled a Norwegianpoem he copied when he reachedEngland the first time. Its meaningcould speak to the motivation formany veterans of World War II.

Kjempfor alt som dll har kjart" .6:Do 0111S«f' det jelderDa er livet"Msaa svartDJ~ell ikke helleI'

Fight for all that you hold dearDie if it's that importantThen life will not be so hardNeither will be deatl,

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Northwest Quarterly J};I'IMSpring200793

Sam Berchiolli,Rockford, Ill., was a hard-

hitting Marine who survivedthree Pacific island invasions andthree courts martial (he had a badhabit of insubordination). Althoughmarried with one child and another

on the way, "Berch" enlisted in theMarine Corps in November, 1942, atthe age of 22.

"Everybodyelse was joiningup, and theMarines were

the only servicethat would takea married man,"Berchiolli says.

After" almost"

completing basictraining (thatwas the firstcourt martial),he was sent toNew Caledonia in the South Pacific,then to New Zealand. Trained as a

BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle)gunner, Berchiolli was eventuallyattached to G Co., 2nd Btn., 8thRgmt., 2nd Marine Division.

On Nov. 20, 1943, he was part ofthe initial invasion of Betio Island in

the Tarawa Atoll, the first majorisland invasion of the Central Pacific

Campaign. With the probable excep-tion of Iwo Jima, Tarawa was themost heavily defended piece of realestate in the entire Pacific war.

"I remember getting out of theHiggins boat into the water," recallsBerchiolli. "I saw the palm treesahead, the explosions, wadingtowards shore. Then it's a blank until

the next day. I was standing next tothe Captain by a pillbox when I gothit on day two."

Berchiolli woke up 11 days later ina hospital in Hawaii, recoveringfrom wounds to his head, arms and

legs, as well as internal injuries fromblast concussion.

"I never knew what hit me, but itkilled the Captain/' he says. "Theywere still picking sand granules andshrapnel out of me in 1981."

Berchiolli's late wife, Nellie,received an erroneous letter inform-

ing her that her husband was miss-ing in action. It took two monthsbefore she learned that he was alivebut wounded.

After recovering from his wounds,Berchiolli was put to work for sever-al months training recruits on theshores of Oahu. In June of 1944, he

rejoined the 2ndMarines as theyinvaded Saipan inthe Marianas. Itwas there that

"Berch" experi-enced some of the

most intense fight-ing of the war,attacking Japanesein pillboxes andcaves, sometime in

94 Northwest Quarterly ~ Spring 2007I~

hand-to-hand com-

bat. They took fewprisoners.

"The stench from

burning flesh wasawfut" he remem-bers. "It made me sick

to my stomach."Berchiolli was

wounded twice more

in battle, and spentseveral days recuper-ating in a field hospi-tal from shrapnelwounds incurred

while reconnoiteringa beachhead on near-

by Tinian.Because of his

wounds, Berchiolliwas sent back to theStates, but instead ofbeing discharged, hewas reassigned toguard duty in

Bethesda, Md. Finally diagnosedwith "shell shock and battle

fatigue," he was honorably dis-charged from the Marine Corps inJanuary of 1946.

Even though Berchiolli still suf-fers from his wounds, both physicaland mental, the VeteransAdministration denied him most of

his disability benefits until 2001. In2006, after a letter of explanationfrom his daughter to Rep. DonManzullo, (R-Ill.), Berchiolli wasawarded the combat medals heearned in the Pacific more than 62

years ago, during a small ceremonyin Rockford.

Left: Berchiolliwoited more thon 62 yeors to receivehis

combot medols from the Morine Corps.

Be/ow: Sam Berchiollisurvivedhis wounds from three invn-

sions in the CentrolPocific. (Jon McGinty photo)