Bruce Allen Berg

Infobox Military Person
name=Bruce Allen Berg
born= birth date|1950|04|22
died= death date|1971|08|07|1950|04|22
placeofbirth=Olympia, Washington
placeofdeath=A Shau Valley Republic of Vietnam


caption=Silver Star Medal
nickname=
allegiance=United States of America
branch=United States Army Special Forces
serviceyears=
rank=sergeant
commands=Special reconnaissance team "RT Oklahoma" One-one (second USASF in command)
unit=Task Force One Advisory Element (Command and Control North) Studies and Observations Group
battles=Vietnam War
awards=Silver Star Purple Heart (partial list)
relations=Brother & Family in Washington State
laterwork=

Bruce Allen Berg (April 22 1950 – August 7 1971) was a United States Army Special Forces soldier and a recipient of the United States military's Silver Star—for his actions during the Vietnam War as Recon Team (RT) member and leader in the covert Studies and Observations Group. Berg was second in command ("one-one") of "RT Oklahoma", which met extraordinarily heavy NVA resistance on August 1 to an attempted reconnaissance in the same area of the A Shau Valley as the RT Kansas battle where he was lost the next week. On August 7 Berg reinforced "RT Kansas" as third in command of the small Special reconnaissance unit, manned by USASF "Green Berets" and highly trained Montagnard commandos from TF1AE (Task Force One Advisory Element) aka "CCN" (Command & Control North), a division of Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) in the Second Indochina War.

North Vietnamese Army Combatant Forces=

Berg's Special reconnaissance team had landed and secured their position for the overnight mission almost within sight of the Hanoi High Command's most critical new venture of late 1971, the first six-inch fuel pipeline laid across the Vietnamese DMZ, which was absolutely essential a few months in the future when entire tank battalions rolled through the area for the Vietnam War's largest offensive. The 304th NVA Division was already massing there, plus a regiment of the 308th Division, in preparation for the 1972 Easter Offensive.

Biography

Berg joined the Army from his birth city of Olympia, Washington, and by August 7 1971 was serving as a "straphanger" and the "one-two" of Special reconnaissance team (RT) Kansas, a mixed unit of U.S. Army Special Forces and Montagnard commandos from Task Force One Advisory Element (TF1AE), also known as Command & Control North (CCN) with MACV-SOG (name changed in March 1971 to "TAG" U.S. Army (Training Advisory Group). During an enemy attack on that day, in an assembly area of the North Vietnamese Army in the A Shau Valley of the Republic of Vietnam, Loren D. Hagen was in command of the small Special reconnaissance team's defense and, when Berg was hit by a rocket in one of the team's bunkers, Hagen crawled towards Berg's position through heavy fire in an attempt to assist Berg.

The enemy fire was too intense and Hagan never reached Berg's position. Mortally wounded in the process, Hagen was later posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions, and Berg was awarded the Silver Star. Berg was never found and he was initially listed as Missing in Action, Body Not Recovered. Berg was 21 at the time of his loss. He was later declared Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered (KIA/BNR).

Other members of Recon Team Kansas were:USASF SGT Tony "Fast Eddie" Andersen, USASF SGT Oran Bingham, USASF 1LT Loren "Festus" Hagen, USASF SGT Bill Queen, USASF SGT William Rimondi, and eight Montagnard Commandos(no names available).

Awards and decorations

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* Parachute Badge
* Silver Star
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*
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*ribbon devices|number=0|ribbon=GallantryCrossRibbon.jpg|width=60 Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation
* Army Special Forces Tab

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ee also

*MACV-SOG
*A Shau Valley
*Eugene DeBruin

References

*http://www.macvsog.cc/1971.htm
*http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/b/b380.htm
*http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/pmsea/pmsea_info_b380.htm
*http://lestyouforget.tripod.com/washingtonk.htm
*http://www.hypnoinfo.com/berg.htm
*http://www.ultimatesniper.com/View_News_Details.cfm?NewsID=160&CategoryID=32&title_bar=THE%20LAST%20STAND%20OF%20RECON%20TEAM%20KANSAS The Last Stand of RT Kansas, by John Plaster