Samuel P. Berzon

Era: World War II

Military Branch: Army

Capt. Samuel P. Berzon of Duluth, Minnesota was enlisted in I Company, 3rd Battalion, 305th Infantry, 77th Division of the Army from March 17, 1945 to November 20, 1946.

While stationed in Hokkaido, Japan, as a Rifleman in October, 1945, Berzon tells of this close call: “Our Regimental Commander was Col. Winthrop Rockefeller who later became Governor of Arkansas. We were told to proceed to a suspected Chinese slave labor camp high in the mountains of central Hokkaido. The Chinese were forced to work in a salt mine. It was unknown as to how many Japanese troops were still there. This would be the last patrol of World War II, but we never got there.

"During the course of our march with full field equipment along a dirt road, we paused and took a ten-minute break. I immediately dropped my equipment and headed for a nearby apple orchard filled with ripe, golden apples. I plucked two or three apples from the trees and relaxed along the roadside. My buddy said he was going over to the shin to shrine across the road with his camera to take pictures.

"I told him I would join him later after finishing my apples. Soon a jeep came roaring up with the Company First Sergeant and driver, he exclaimed to my buddy, ‘Soldier, what are you doing in there?’ He mumbled something about taking pictures. He was then placed under security and whisked off to Division Headquarters. He was given a General Court Martial and sentenced to a lengthy period with a chain gang on Okinawa. It was a close call. Thank God I was just eating an apple. We turned back to our units in the Sapporo area.”