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Fred S. Bertsch Jr. collection, 1941-1991, Date acquired: 04/20/2012, bulk 1941-1943

 

Summary

Creator:
Bertsch, Fred S. , Jr. , 1920-2012
Extent:
1 boxes
2 items 2 books
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], Fred S. Bertsch, Jr. collection, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_08_0134.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection relates to retired U.S. Navy Captain Fred S. Bertsch Jr. who served as the Engineer Officer during World War II in the Pacific Theater of Operations on the destroyer U.S.S. Case and the Korean War as a naval aviator.  The collection includes a daily handwritten log journal of activities aboard the U.S.S Case which begins with his eyewitness account of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, including the attack of the U.S.S. Arizona Battleship, through the end of 1943.  The collection also contains 133 original color slides, and digitized prints of the slides, taken by Bertsch Jr. aboard the U.S.S  Case during the Aleutian Island campaign in 1942, additional photographs, documents, artifacts, newspaper articles, and two publications authored by Bertsch Jr.

Biographical / historical:

Retired U.S. Navy Captain Fred S. Bertsch Jr. was born October 8, 1920, and grew up in Holland, Michigan. He enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve during his junior year at Hope College and spent the following summer vacation as an unpaid sailor aboard the U.S.S. Wyoming battleship. Toward the end of his senior year, he was recalled to active duty. He graduated from Hope College in 1941 and entered the U.S. Navy as an ensign. Stationed at Pearl Harbor at the outbreak of war, he survived the attack and served almost three consecutive years of combat on the destroyer USS Case (DD-370) in the Western Pacific. Experiences documented in his handwritten journal include the Japanese Pearl Harbor attack,  Midway Island, Aleutian Island campaign, and Guadalcanal campaign. He married Ensign Lorraine Timmer of the United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve) on October 16, 1943, in Elmendorf Chapel, New York, NY.  Lorraine served with the Women's Reserve from 1943-1945 in the Communications Annex, Washington, D.C. After World War II, Capt. Bertsch attended flight school and was designated a naval aviator. He served 18 months flying combat patrol missions over and around Korea from 1950 to 1952. He transferred into the Naval Reserve in 1957 and returned to Holland, where he taught math at Holland High School and later was principal from 1964 to 1978. Upon retirement, he moved to Stuart, FL with Lorraine.  Lorraine passed away on August 23, 1997, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.  Bertsch Jr. remarried Dorothy Kirk Bertsch in 1998. Bertsch Jr. was active in business, subdividing several properties along Lake Macatawa and engaged in several other entrepreneurial activities. He was a member of the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club, serving two terms as Commodore. He also was a member of the Holland Rotary Club, serving a term as district governor. Bertsch Jr. passed away on October 10, 2012, in Palm City, FL and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.



Note written by

Acquisition information:

Fred S. Bertsch Jr.

Donation

Custodial history:

Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives in July 2022.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open to all researchers.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], Fred S. Bertsch, Jr. collection, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_08_0134.

Location of this collection:
116 Honors Way
Tallahassee
FL
32306-2047
USA