US Navy.
CHS sent:
A dear friend of his has shared this info. With his permission, please share.
Class 005, KIT in a drowning accident.
Each Memorial Day I remember Ron, but I have never put my thoughts in writing. His picture is in my office with other members and memorabilia of my time in UDT 3 training and overseas.
Ron Berry and I were swimming partners in class 5 of our UDT Training. We were always the first to finish in swimming exercises because he had been a Redondo Beach lifeguard and I grew up on the beaches of Santa Monica as a swimmer and surfer.
In a class of 115 men, we finished with 28. We hoped we would be assigned to the same team, but he went into Team #1 and I went into Team #3. Team #3 was the next to go overseas.
I wrote to him December 6, 1952, from Inchon, Korea. The letter was returned to me unopened on December 8th - "Return to Sender". It is my understanding he died the same day I wrote to him.
I still have that letter, and I still choke up when I read it and think about going through the experience of training together and what a great swimmer he was. To lose his life to drowning seemed so wrong.
He was my partner and my best friend. I have always wished I had been with him - thinking things might have been different, but realizing he was with the best.
Well, at 82, maybe we will meet again in the future. I hope so. Love to you, Ron.
Your Partner Forever,
Rick Dunn (Dillman)
Ronald Berry was born on November 30, 1929, in California. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on November 15, 1950, and completed basic training at NTC San Diego, California, in January 1951. His first assignment was aboard the destroyer USS Rowan (DD-782) from March 1951 to March 1952, and during this time he deployed aboard the ship to Korea from January to March 1952. SA Berry next attended Underwater Demolition Team Replacement training (Class 005) at NAB Coronado, California, from March to September 1952, followed by service with UDT-1 at NAB Coronado from September 1952 until he drown during Aqua Lung training at Coronado on December 1, 1952. Ronald Berry was buried at the Pacific Crest Cemetery in Redondo Beach, California.
CHS sent:
A dear friend of his has shared this info. With his permission, please share.
Class 005, KIT in a drowning accident.
Each Memorial Day I remember Ron, but I have never put my thoughts in writing. His picture is in my office with other members and memorabilia of my time in UDT 3 training and overseas.
Ron Berry and I were swimming partners in class 5 of our UDT Training. We were always the first to finish in swimming exercises because he had been a Redondo Beach lifeguard and I grew up on the beaches of Santa Monica as a swimmer and surfer.
In a class of 115 men, we finished with 28. We hoped we would be assigned to the same team, but he went into Team #1 and I went into Team #3. Team #3 was the next to go overseas.
I wrote to him December 6, 1952, from Inchon, Korea. The letter was returned to me unopened on December 8th - "Return to Sender". It is my understanding he died the same day I wrote to him.
I still have that letter, and I still choke up when I read it and think about going through the experience of training together and what a great swimmer he was. To lose his life to drowning seemed so wrong.
He was my partner and my best friend. I have always wished I had been with him - thinking things might have been different, but realizing he was with the best.
Well, at 82, maybe we will meet again in the future. I hope so. Love to you, Ron.
Your Partner Forever,
Rick Dunn (Dillman)
Ronald Berry was born on November 30, 1929, in California. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on November 15, 1950, and completed basic training at NTC San Diego, California, in January 1951. His first assignment was aboard the destroyer USS Rowan (DD-782) from March 1951 to March 1952, and during this time he deployed aboard the ship to Korea from January to March 1952. SA Berry next attended Underwater Demolition Team Replacement training (Class 005) at NAB Coronado, California, from March to September 1952, followed by service with UDT-1 at NAB Coronado from September 1952 until he drown during Aqua Lung training at Coronado on December 1, 1952. Ronald Berry was buried at the Pacific Crest Cemetery in Redondo Beach, California.
US Navy.
CHS sent:
A dear friend of his has shared this info. With his permission, please share.
Class 005, KIT in a drowning accident.
Each Memorial Day I remember Ron, but I have never put my thoughts in writing. His picture is in my office with other members and memorabilia of my time in UDT 3 training and overseas.
Ron Berry and I were swimming partners in class 5 of our UDT Training. We were always the first to finish in swimming exercises because he had been a Redondo Beach lifeguard and I grew up on the beaches of Santa Monica as a swimmer and surfer.
In a class of 115 men, we finished with 28. We hoped we would be assigned to the same team, but he went into Team #1 and I went into Team #3. Team #3 was the next to go overseas.
I wrote to him December 6, 1952, from Inchon, Korea. The letter was returned to me unopened on December 8th - "Return to Sender". It is my understanding he died the same day I wrote to him.
I still have that letter, and I still choke up when I read it and think about going through the experience of training together and what a great swimmer he was. To lose his life to drowning seemed so wrong.
He was my partner and my best friend. I have always wished I had been with him - thinking things might have been different, but realizing he was with the best.
Well, at 82, maybe we will meet again in the future. I hope so. Love to you, Ron.
Your Partner Forever,
Rick Dunn (Dillman)
Ronald Berry was born on November 30, 1929, in California. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on November 15, 1950, and completed basic training at NTC San Diego, California, in January 1951. His first assignment was aboard the destroyer USS Rowan (DD-782) from March 1951 to March 1952, and during this time he deployed aboard the ship to Korea from January to March 1952. SA Berry next attended Underwater Demolition Team Replacement training (Class 005) at NAB Coronado, California, from March to September 1952, followed by service with UDT-1 at NAB Coronado from September 1952 until he drown during Aqua Lung training at Coronado on December 1, 1952. Ronald Berry was buried at the Pacific Crest Cemetery in Redondo Beach, California.
CHS sent:
A dear friend of his has shared this info. With his permission, please share.
Class 005, KIT in a drowning accident.
Each Memorial Day I remember Ron, but I have never put my thoughts in writing. His picture is in my office with other members and memorabilia of my time in UDT 3 training and overseas.
Ron Berry and I were swimming partners in class 5 of our UDT Training. We were always the first to finish in swimming exercises because he had been a Redondo Beach lifeguard and I grew up on the beaches of Santa Monica as a swimmer and surfer.
In a class of 115 men, we finished with 28. We hoped we would be assigned to the same team, but he went into Team #1 and I went into Team #3. Team #3 was the next to go overseas.
I wrote to him December 6, 1952, from Inchon, Korea. The letter was returned to me unopened on December 8th - "Return to Sender". It is my understanding he died the same day I wrote to him.
I still have that letter, and I still choke up when I read it and think about going through the experience of training together and what a great swimmer he was. To lose his life to drowning seemed so wrong.
He was my partner and my best friend. I have always wished I had been with him - thinking things might have been different, but realizing he was with the best.
Well, at 82, maybe we will meet again in the future. I hope so. Love to you, Ron.
Your Partner Forever,
Rick Dunn (Dillman)
Ronald Berry was born on November 30, 1929, in California. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on November 15, 1950, and completed basic training at NTC San Diego, California, in January 1951. His first assignment was aboard the destroyer USS Rowan (DD-782) from March 1951 to March 1952, and during this time he deployed aboard the ship to Korea from January to March 1952. SA Berry next attended Underwater Demolition Team Replacement training (Class 005) at NAB Coronado, California, from March to September 1952, followed by service with UDT-1 at NAB Coronado from September 1952 until he drown during Aqua Lung training at Coronado on December 1, 1952. Ronald Berry was buried at the Pacific Crest Cemetery in Redondo Beach, California.
