Provided/Bernie I. Friedenberg
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
A Margate man who lived his life in service to his brothers in arms will get the recognition he well deserves next week when a larger than life-sized statue of him is unveiled in Atlantic City.
A bronze sculpture designed by Fisher Sculpture of Pennsylvania depicting World War II Army medic Staff Sgt. Bernard I. Friedenberg cradling an injured soldier in his arms, will be unveiled at noon on the 80
th anniversary of D-Day, Thursday, June 6, at O’Donnell Park behind the World War I monument that welcomes visitors to Atlantic City.
The effort to get the statue designed, funded, created, and installed started in 2018, shortly after Friedenberg, a longtime resident of Margate, passed away. At that time, his daughter Susan Friedenberg of Philadelphia approached the City of Margate to install the statue somewhere in Margate. That never materialized but Susan Friedenberg continued her quest to have her dad and all World War II veterans and recognized.
Bernie Friedenberg WWII Memorial design concept.
“’Team Bernie’ wound up raising the funds to get it put in Atlantic City, right across the street from where he went to high school,” Susan Friedenberg said.
Atlantic City High School closed in 1994 and the building was demolished in 1998. The site is now the home of Stockton University’s beachfront campus.
When she started the project, estimated costs were around $300,000, but over the years, the cost of installation increased to more than $1 million.
Susan and Bernie Friedenberg.
“Team Bernie, Mayor Marty Small, and the CRDA were simply amazing and raised all the money to get it done,” she said.
Members of Team Bernie, officially called, “The Friends of Bernie Friedenberg Memorial Committee,” are Vietnam veteran advocate and Chairman Marco Polo Smigliani, retired military Meteorologist Jim Eberwine, Randi Scheck, veteran Mike Bongiorno, Atlantic County Veteran Services Director Bob Frolow, Mike Merlino, Mike Ebert, and retired Gen. Doug Satterfield.
U.S. Army S.Sgt. Bernard I Friedenberg
Bernie Friedenberg, who was born in South Philly and grew up on Maryland Avenue in Atlantic City, was a student at Temple University when Pearl Harbor came under attack by Japan. He went home to Atlantic City to enlist the next day, but was rejected by three branches of military service, she said.
“They wouldn’t take him because he had very poor vision,” Susan Friedenberg said.
He kept trying to enlist and never gave up.
“They kept rejecting him, but he was relentless. After they lowered the vision requirements, off to the Army he went,” she said. “When he got to Fort Dix, they kept telling him he didn’t have to go, but his response was, ‘Yes, I do, Sir.’ The Army said his service would be limited, and they made him a medic where he served in the war’s greatest battles.”
https://youtu.be/YYmcqGsJKbY?si=3Lt_2ZBWioS0Y1Bm
Those battles included Battle of the Bulge, Operation Torch in Algeria, the Siegfried Line, and others where untold numbers of American soldiers were injured or perished fighting to free the world of tyranny.
He authored a book about his experiences titled, “Of Being Numerous: World War II As I Saw It.”
Friedenberg was a slight man, weighing only 125 pounds not counting the 40 pounds of medical supplies he carried on his body to save injured soldiers. He was in the fourth wave of soldiers to make it to Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, on D-Day, where he immediately began “patching people up,” she said.
“Without regard to his own safety, (Friedenberg) entered a minefield five separate times, retrieving a wounded soldier each time,” his biography on the Bernie Friedenberg WW II Memorial website states.
For that, he was awarded the Silver Star. He was also awarded two Bronze Stars for valor, and two Purple Hearts for wounds sustained in combat.
During his nearly five years of service, Friedenberg was wounded several times while helping others.
“He was shot four times, not two that he got the Purple Hearts for,” Susan Friedenberg said. “Because he was a medic, he was able to treat his own wounds and was able to continue serving in the war.”
After the war, his friend Jack Cohen introduced him to Phillis Rogers, and it was love at first sight.
Bernie and Phyllis Friedenberg
“Mom was an amazing singer and gorgeous. She would sing for the injured soldiers staying in the Atlantic City hotels that were turned into Army hospitals,” she said. “They had a great 70-year marriage.”
The couple moved their family from their home in Longport to a house on Cedar Grove Avenue in Margate, where Susan and her siblings grew up “looking at Lucy the Elephant’s butt.”
Her dad loved boating and later built a house on Pembroke Avenue where he was able to dock his 44-foot Pacemaker.
“He loved to fish, and was passionate about airplanes,” she said. “Eventually, he sold the boat to buy a Cherokee Archer and he and Mom flew all over the U.S. and Canada. I had a great childhood with my parents.”
The couple owned two bars, the Penn Crest Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, and then the Fiesta Motel on Tennessee and Pacific avenues, and Skillo on Kentucky Avenue in Atlantic City, and they ended their careers selling real estate at Guber Realty in Margate.
Margate Jewish War Veterans Post 39 Commander Bernie I. Friedenberg.
Throughout his life, Friedenberg remained a staunch advocate of veterans’ affairs. He was a member of the Atlantic County Veterans Advisory Board and was commander of the Margate Jewish War Veterans Post 39 for more than 20 years. He often spoke to students and community groups about the “true cost of freedom.”
For more information about Friedenberg, the monument or to donate, see
www.bfww2.com.
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