Jayme Berg at SaddleBrooke
Jayme Berg in Shanghai
Jayme Berg was born to Tyko and Ruth Berg in Bellingham, Washington, on June 28, 1927. He passed away in Tucson on Memorial Day, 2016. Jayme is survived by his wife Carolyn, daughter Susan, step-daughters Renee and Sheryl, grandsons Tom, Dominic, Dante, Alex and Stephen, granddaughters Rebecca and Ally and four great grandchildren. Jayme was preceded in death by his son Tom. Jayme and Carolyn would have been married 28 years on June 25. They lived in SaddleBrooke for 21 years. Jayme served in the U.S. Navy. At one point Jayme was stationed on Saipan and even though the war had ended, his unit was continually harassed by Japanese who had not surrendered. While on Saipan Jayme was discharged from the Navy so he could be made a postman for the U.S. Postal Service and he was sent to the Fleet Post Office in Shanghai. His Seaman First Class stripes were replaced by the cancellation logo used on U.S. mail. Jayme’s office in Shanghai was in the former German Embassy and his office had a large wall painting of Adolph Hitler which they used for target practice. His living quarters, along with several hundred other U.S. military personnel was the Sheraton Hotel. Jayme enjoyed his work in the post office. He recalled telling an Admiral and other ranking officers who tried to get to the head of the line for service, “Go to the end of the line, sir,” because they did not get served out of turn. Although the war had ended, Jayme’s unit did have occasional confrontations with Japanese soldiers who would come out of the hills to steal food, but those confrontations paled in comparison to the harassment from the Chinese Communists and their daily marches against their compound. Eventually Jayme and the rest of the military personnel were moved from the Sheraton Hotel to several warehouses to await evacuation. They boarded a U.S. cruise ship with San Diego as their destination; however, the trip back home took four months. Jayme said that some days it seemed the ship actually moved backwards. When the ship finally arrived in San Diego, Jayme was transferred from the U.S.P.S. back to the U.S. Navy and was transferred to Seattle, Washington, where he received an Honorable Discharge. After his Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Navy, Jayme worked for the NuTone Company for 36 years as a salesman of electrical products. He received many rewards throughout his successful career. He retired in 1990. He was an avid golfer. He was loved and admired by his family and many friends.