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SOMERS, N.Y. – Somers residents Jack Lederman and Richard Bertram have been selected for induction into state Sen. Greg Ball’s Veterans’ Hall of Fame.
Speaking Saturday at the induction ceremony, Ball said, “These men and women have been hand-picked by their communities because they chose a path of courage, honor, integrity and bravery, a path that helped shape America as we know it, protecting our way of life and liberty. America is not a great country because of its politicians. It’s a great country because of our veterans.”
Bertram served in the Navy as a gunner’s mate during World War II. He participated in the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign, for which he won the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four battle stars for combat at Leyte and Luzon in the Philippines and at Saipan and Okinawa, Japan.
For more than 50 years, Bertram has been a volunteer firefighter, in Mount Vernon and Eastchester before moving to Somers. He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8213, where he served as commander for two years. Bertram has been responsible for organizing the opening ceremony of the Somers Independence Day celebration and the Flag Day ceremony at Primrose School.
Lederman was born in Poland in 1926, emigrated to the United States in his youth, and served in the U.S. Army infantry for two years during World War II. He was stationed in the Pacific Theater as a member of the occupying forces of Japan. He earned both the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
Lederman is an active resident of Heritage Hills, where he has been condominium president, president of the Tennis Club and a member of the board of the Chamber Music Society.
Lederman is also active in Jewish War Veterans Post 46 and has earned recognition for his work on behalf of Israel Bonds.
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