Past president marks headline's 60th anniversary

TPA’s second oldest living past president celebrates a milestone this month — the 60th anniversary since he wrote the biggest headline of his career.

On Aug. 14, 1945, Bill Berger was a 27-year-old supply officer for the Army’s 543rd Field Artillery Battalion when he wrote the headline “Japan Quits!” in a one-page special edition of the battalion’s daily publication, The Cannoneers Post.

“One of my extra duties was to listen to short wave radio and copy down stateside news. I typed it into columns and made up a single copy of a one-page newspaper,” Berger said.

“The headlines were hand lettered with a Speedball pen and India ink. This edition carried the biggest headline I had ever written before or to this day. Our 500 men gathered around the camp bulletin board to read every line of the great news.”

The special edition was pasted onto a piece of 22-inch by 28-inch piece of cardboard and posted for the soldiers to read.

Berger, who served as TPA’s 1963-64 president and is co-publisher of the Hondo Anvil Herald, recalled his days in World War II.

“Our battalion was organized at Fort Bragg, N.C., and we learned how to fire six 210 mm Howitzers. They were so big that it took one railroad flat car to carry each barrel, and another to carry each base. Along with the guns we had 12 40-ton Caterpillar tractors to haul the barrels and bases, each separately on huge, carriers with earth mover tires, 20-ton crams trucks to assemble the guns and lift the one-ton shells, huge bulldozers to dig pits, a couple of Piper Cub spotter planes, and dozens of big trucks and Jeeps. All this had been hauled on a special train from Fort Bragg to Seattle, and then moved by ship to Hawaii for more training. Later we were transferred to Leyte in the Philippines where we prepared for the invasion of Japan, along with about a million other men.

“When the war ended we split up. The guns were abandoned in the jungle. Some of the men went home. Along with others, I helped to occupy Japan for several months, moving from the Leyte jungle heat to the deep snow and 40 below winter in Hokkaido, the northern Japanese island.

“When it was my turn to get back to Texas and civilian life, I began looking for the newsman’s dream, a county seat weekly newspaper. My wife and I bought the Hondo Anvil Herald in 1946, and still own it. Our son Jeff is now in charge, and I write a weekly column."

But in 59 years of Texas newspapering Berger still hasn’t come close to that spectacular headline 60 years ago on Aug. 14, 1945.

“No headline since that date has been such a joy to write,” he said.