Berda, William F.

Description

In 1940 William was working for the International Projector Corp in NYC. He married Eleanor Lowrey in September of 1941 and the couple lived in Port Chester.

William enlisted in the Army on August 19, 1943, in New York City, New York, during World War II. He was 28 years old.

William served with a tank destroyer unit in France. The tank destroyer battalion was a type of military unit used by the United States Army during World War II. The unit was organized in one of two different forms’a towed battalion equipped with anti-tank guns, or a mechanized battalion equipped with armored self-propelled guns.

The tank destroyer units were formed in response to the German use of massed formations of armored vehicles units early in WWII.

The tank destroyer concept envisioned the battalions acting as independent units that would respond at high speed to large enemy tank attacks. In this role, they would be attached in groups or brigades to corps or armies. In practice, they were usually individually attached to infantry divisions. Over one hundred battalions were formed, of which more than half saw combat service.

William was honorably discharged January 1,1946.

William Francis Berda died on April 14, 1979, in Port Chester, New York, when he was 64 years old.