Honoring Our Veterans: Dale Berven

Bay Area native Dale Berven first boarded the USS Hornet in 1954. After a tour of duty in Korea and 90 missions as a fighter pilot, Berven and his entire air group embarked on a goodwill cruise around the world.

The Hornet traveled across the Atlantic to Portugal, Italy, through the Suez Canal, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Singapore, the Philippines and Formosa (now Taiwan). "On the Hornet," says Berven, "I was able to meet people from around the world."

Today, Berven, 80, travels from his home in Livermore to serve as a senior docent on board the USS Hornet Museum. One of 75 docents, his work is about education: "We are trying to impart knowledge of what happened in the 20th century. We are not trying to build up war. War is hell. We know that."

Why did you enlist? Back in the 1940s, you had to register for the draft when you turned 18. I registered in 1948 when I was a senior in high school. I joined the Naval Reserve because I was going to college and didn't want to get drafted. In 1950, the Korean War started and the reserve squadrons were activated. I signed up for flight training and went down to Pensacola in 1951.

How did you qualify as a pilot? It took me 16 months to get these wings. After ground school, there was basic flight training. You flew with an instructor, then you soloed. Then at the next stage, you got into acrobatics—loops, rolls and spins. You'd fly with the instructor who would take you through it, then he'd talk you through it, and then you'd do it. Then there was carrier training. If you were going to be a fighter pilot, which I was chosen for, you went down to Corpus Christi to train. To qualify, you had to make 12 landings on a carrier. I only made 11. On the eleventh landing, the tail hook caught the wire and broke, and I went into the barrier. So the flight deck officer said, "That's OK, kid. Look back there." And my tail hook was still hanging back there on the wire! I didn't have a plane to fly for the twelfth landing but they gave me the thumbs up any way.

What are your memories of combat? Some good, some bad. Just like most servicemen, I don't like to talk about it much. The thing I remember most was an ensign getting killed the day before the war ended.

We did some close air support for the Army and the Marines who were on the ground. Close air support, you're dropping bombs and shooting rockets just a few hundred yards in front of them. You're thinking of the poor guys down there and hoping everything's OK.

We felt we were doing a job. Out of my 90 missions, I was only hit once, and that was by small arms fire.

I really enjoyed flying. Sometimes now, I dream that I'm flying.

What did you do after you left the military? I got out of the service in 1955 and finished up at San Francisco State, where I was an Education major. I taught in the Castro Valley School District for 33 years. I was a physical education major and a math minor, so I taught both subjects. Then I was the athletic director and department chair. I was in administration for two years. I didn't like it. I liked to be working with the kids. As assistant principal, the teachers didn't like you, the kids didn't like you and the parents didn't like you!

When did you become a docent on the Hornet? In 1998, my wife got me interested in seeing the Hornet when it was being prepared as a museum. I became a docent when the museum opened in October 1998, and I've been one of the senior docents ever since.

How many men did the Hornet carry? About 3,000. It's small now compared to the nuclear carriers which hold between 5,000 to 6,000. But back then, it was the super-carrier we had in WWII.

Why is the Hornet important to you? This is sort of strange, but when I was aboard it, I didn't like it. I felt it was run by a bunch of idiots. An aircraft carrier has the black shoe navy—the ship's crew--and the brown shoe navy—the pilots. There was some animosity between the two groups, as well as between the east coast and west coast groups. I was glad to get off the Hornet.

Then I came back and met all these great volunteers. I think of how great this ship was and is. Now I'm a firm supporter of the Hornet.

How will you celebrate Veterans' Day? I'm going to come down here to the Hornet and see if I can help out. All this week, veterans get in free.

I just gave a talk to a group and read this poem. The poem is about soldiers, but when we talk about soldiers we're talking about the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, the Coast Guard and possibly the Merchant Marine too, because they did their job in World War II. See if you've heard this before:

The Veteran

It is the Soldier, not the minister

Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter

Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet

Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer

Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer

Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician

Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,

Who serves beneath the flag,

And whose coffin is draped by the flag,

Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

--Charles Michael Province, U.S. Army, 1970