Bertram "Bert" F. Wester, the son of Aloys and Rose (Ansay) Wester, was born in the Town of Belgium, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, on May 18, 1924. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on July 22, 1942, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois, to receive a uniform and the required medical shots. He was then sent to Atlantic City, New Jersey, for a month of basic training and skills evaluation.

After a month, he was sent to Aircraft Machinist School in Media, Pennsylvania, where he attended classes until Christmas week 1942. He then was sent to Warner Robins Airfield in Georgia for further training. there he outfitted B-17 bombers with bomb racks, gun turrets, radios and everything required to have the B17s combat ready.

After five months, Bert was sent to Congaree Air Base, Columbia, South Carolina, where the 40th Air Depot Group was formed after a few months. The group was sent to Greensboro, North Carolina, and then traveled south through Georgia, Alabama, and through Texas, and more western states until they arrived at Camp Anza, California. After a few days, Bert boarded a troop ship and sailed out of San Pedro Harbor near Los Angeles. After 22 days of zig-zagging to avoid Japanese submarines, the ship arrived in Melbourne, Australia.

After a few days, the troops again boarded the ship and spent another 22 days sailing around the bottom part of Australia part Ceylon in the Indian Ocean and landed in Calcutta, India. There Bert overhauled R2600 and R2800 aircract engines which were used in the C-47s and the C-54s to carry supplies over the Himalaya Mountains to China. While in India, Bert contracted dengue fever and also an appendicitis.

The 40th Air Depot Group was dissolved and became the 2480th O.M. Truck Company. They hauled supplies from the docks and warehouses in the Calcutta area into Bangladesch and Burma to supply the American, British, Austrailian, Indian and other allied troops fighting in that area.

The trips that Bert took lasted from one to six days. During the monsoon season, many roads were under water and the troops would have to wait until the water subsided or until the engineers would put the road back into a passible condition.

In August 1945, Bert and his fellow troops heard that the atomic bomb was dropped on some cities in Japan. At first, it did not seem like a big deal because Japanese cities had been bombed before. Little did these troops realize how this event would also change their lives.

After the Japanese surrendered, Bert thought he would finally be able to leave India and get back home. Yet this did not happen so quickly. There were about 650,000 American soldiers in the China - Burma - India area and with only about 5,000 troops on a troop ship, it would take a while. After the surrender of Japan, Bert's group kept busy hauling supplies needed to rebuild Burma, French Indo China and other countries captured by the Japanese.

Bert was finally sent to a camp of departure where he waited several weeks for a troop transport to take him back to the states. On February 6, 1946, Bert boarded a transport which took him past Singapore and into Manila Harbor. The ship passed the Corregidor Island and many thoughts went through the troops' minds as they saw the remnants of the devastating bombardments there.

March 8, 1946 was an exciting day for Bert as his ship went under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to go to Camp Stoneman, California. From there he boarded a train to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, for final Honarble Discharge on March 16, 1946. This ended his service during World II, yet his pride in being a soldier, in serving the country he loved, and in being part of the greatest generation would remain with him every day of his life.

Shortly after returning home to Wisconsin, Bert married the love of his life, Verena Burmesch, on June 29, 1946, at Holy Cross Church, Holy Cross, Wisconsin.They settled on the Burmesch family farm in the Town of Fredonia, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, where they took up farming.

As a young married couple, Bert and Verena were founders of the American Legion Post #410 and American Legion Auxiliary in Fredonia, Wisconsin. After moving off the farm to Belgium, Wisconsin, Bert and Verena were co-founders of the American Legion Post #412 and American Legion Auxiliary in Belgium, Wisconsin. Verena served as the founding president of the Auxiliary. They were active in these organizations the remainder of their lives.

At the time of his death in 2016, Bert was the oldest member of Post #412 in Belgium, Wisconsin. Bert died on July 16, 2016 in Grafton, Wisconsin, and was buried with military honors in St. Mary's Cemetery, Lake Church, Wisconsin.

He was incredibly proud of, and very humble about, his service to the United States in World War II.

Bertram F Wester