Seymour Berkowitz was born February 23, 1921 in Utica, NY to Jacob Berkowitz (1888-1953) and Dora Levenson (1894-1961). He was the youngest of their three children which included Grace and David. His father, Jacob was from Russia and Dora was from New York. His parents were married on March 12, 1911 in Utica, NY. The family lived on Holland Ave. in Utica for a time and then at 1568 Seymour Ave., Utica. Seymour's dad was a Tailor in a local clothing shop. Grace, his older sister by 9 years, was helping support the family by working as a Stenographer while Seymour was growing up. He graduated from Utica Free Academy and worked at the Rome Army Air Field before entering the service.

Seymour was drafted into the service on September 23, 1942 through Utica, NY with service number 32493559. He did his training at Mt. Upton, NY and was sent overseas to North Africa in late 1943. Like so many who got sent overseas, it didn't take him long to get sick. In November 1943 he was admitted to the 35th Station Hospital with Jaundice.

Between November 25, 1943 and May 4, 1944 Staff Sgt. Berkowitz received the Air Medal on 8 separate occasions. First on November 25, 1943 then again on March 9, 1944 and finally on the day he was killed May 4, 1944. He was also awarded the Purple Heart posthumously.

Missing Air Crew Report Number 2064, dated Feb. 6, 1944, discloses that the entire crew of B-17G aircraft number 42-31667, which departed from Amendola, Italy, on a bombing mission to Toulon, France on Feb. 4, 1944 was hit by enemy aircraft fire and disintegrated in mid-air. No parachutes were seen to leave the aircraft. Staff Sergeant Berkowitz was among the crew (tail gunner) that were lost that day. His body is never recovered.

A cenotaph was placed in the House of Israel Cemetery in Whitesboro, NY in July 1959. He is also memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing in the Rhone American Cemetery, Draguignan, France. A complete list of the crew can be found in the Supporting Documents below.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3.

(Please see - http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org).

Can you help us write these stories? Together We Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of WWII fallen.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute, please contact Jim Greenberg at jim.greenberg@oneonta.edu.

SBTSProject/New York/Oneida

Sources

"89 Draftees Leave for Camp Upton", Utica Observer-Dispatch, Utica, NY, Oct. 7, 1942, pg. 2A. 

Alphabetical Master Cards, 1942–1947; Series VI, Card Files—Bureau of War Records, Master Index Cards, 1943–1947; National Jewish Welfare Board, Bureau of War Records, 1940–1969; I-52; boxes 273–362. New York, New York: American Jewish Historical Society, Center for Jewish History. Box #: 278; Box Info: Bem - Berlowitz; Archive Collection #: I-52

Ancestry.com. Global, Find a Grave® Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56510453/seymour-berkowitz: accessed January 9, 2026), memorial page for SSGT Seymour Berkowitz (23 Feb 1921–4 Feb 1944), Find a Grave Memorial ID 56510453, citing Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial, Draguignan, Département du Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France; Maintained by Don Jones (contributor 13966416).

National Archives at St. Louis, St. Louis, MO.;Air Force Award Cards [Air Medal]: Berger, Albert – Bertza, Emil; Record Group 64: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration; NAID: 138696075.

National Archives at St. Louis, St. Louis, MO.; Missing Air Crew Report number 2064; Record Group 92: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General; NAID: 90915869.

National Archives at St. Louis, St. Louis, MO.; Individual Deceased Personnel File for Rutherfurd Bingham (O-724375); NAID: 330480261; Record Group 92:Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General; Series: Individual Deceased Personnel Files.

National Archives at Washington DC; Washington DC, USA; Applications for Headstones For U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941; NAID: 596118; Record Group Number: 92; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General

Year: 1930; Census Place: Utica, Oneida, New York; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0094; FHL microfilm: 2341355

Year: 1940; Census Place: Utica, Oneida, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02862; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 67-70B

Supporting Documents:

The Missing Air Crew Report: