Vernon Berg, III

Vernon E. “Copy” Berg (born 10 July 1951) was U. S. Naval Academy graduate and artist. He was the first Naval Academy alumnus to actively fight the policies against homosexuality in the services. After Mr. Berg's suit against the Navy, which had given him an other than honorable discharge as an ensign in 1976, the armed forces adopted a policy of generally granting honorable discharges to homosexuals.

Biography
Copy Berg was born in 7 July 1951 in Port Jefferson, New York. He was called Copy because he was so like his father, Commander Vernon E. Berg Jr., a Navy chaplain. He obtained a Naval & Marine Reserve appointment to U.S. Naval Academy. He graduated with the Class of 1974 with a Bachelors of Science Degree.

Naval Academy
While at the Academy, Copy was known to be prolific at his art which appeared in The Log Magazine, the Art and Printing Club posters, T-Shirts, Beat Army buttons, Christmas dinner programs and as centerfolds of programs. He could be seen dancing across the Stage of Mahan Hall in the Masqueraders' musicals. He is quoted as saying "It's not that a Midshipman can draw, write or sing well, its that a Midshipman can draw, write or sing at all."

He sang in the Protestant Chapel Choir and Naval Academy Glee Club.

Time in the Fleet
After graduation from the Naval Academy, Berg reported to his first ship the USS Little Rock (CLG-4), the Flagship for the U. S. Navy Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean home ported in Gaeta, Italy.

Discharge and Trials
As a result of the legal action, his discharge was upgraded to honorable in 1977.

In 1978, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that Berg and former Technical Sergeant Leonard P. Matlovich of the Air Force had been unfairly discharged, although it did not reinstate them, as both had sought. Berg was discharged after an investigation revealed he was in a gay relationship.

Life as an artist
After departing the U.S. Navy, he moved to New York and earned a master's degree in design from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He died in Manhattan on Wednesday January 27, 1999.

67 linear feet (161 boxes) of the Copy Berg Papers are held by the New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division.