George F Berg
George was born on the 2nd of December 1868, in Mount Erie, Illinois, and grew up with eleven siblings, four of which were from his father’s first marriage. He enlisted into the US Army from Nebraska and was a Private when he deployed with Company C of the 17th US Infantry to Cuba in support of the Spanish-American War. His actions later earned him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and while under heavy fire of the enemy.
Like many from this time, details about George’s life in and out of the Army are few. I do know that he reached the rank of Master Sergeant in the Army but that is about it. For example, I am unsure when he received the Medal of Honor because the Congressional Medal of Honor Society has his presentation date as the 17th of October 1927. However, the only photo I found of George was in uniform wearing the Army’s version of the Medal of Honor that was issued from 1896 to 1903, which displayed a vertical ribbon with two red stripes, two blue, and one white, topped with the same shielded suspension bar as the original Medal. If he had received the Medal of Honor in 1927, he would have received what is known as the Gillespie version of the Medal, which is a blue vertical ribbon with thirteen stars (similar to today’s ribbon) and hanging from it the new star shaped medal that is surrounded by a green wreath.
His life outside and after the Army is also not really recorded. He was married to Annie Merritt, who was 36 years younger than him if my math is correct. She died at the age of either 32 or 33, 8 years before her husband. George Francis Berg died on the 27th of November 1945, at the age of 76 and he is buried with Annie in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in South Portland, Maine: Plot J-50.
