ROGERS CITY – In November 1958, 25-year-old Duane Berg had been planning to get off the freighter Carl D. Bradley in Cedarville and meet his dad for a hunting trip on Drummond Island.

That’s according to the stories Berg’s brother Mark, of Rogers City, has heard over the years. Mark, who was 4 when the Bradley sank in Lake Michigan on Nov. 18 of that year, said Duane couldn’t leave the boat because he couldn’t find anyone to relieve him. He was aboard the freighter when it sank and was never found, having died not knowing that he had a son on the way.

Now, Duane Berg has a headstone for the first time in 57 years, and on Saturday he’ll receive military honors. Berg had served in the U.S. Air Force from 1952 to 1956, Mark’s wife Evelyn said. When Evelyn’s aunt died in the spring, Beck Funeral Home owner Ted Beck noticed a military flag holder near Berg’s father’s headstone.

“Ted asked, ‘how come Mark’s dad never had a military marker,'” she said. “We said it wasn’t his dad, it was his son, he was in the military. He went down on the Bradley and was never found.”

So Beck decided he’d help get Duane Berg a headstone, he said. He obtained an Arlington-style marker from the Veterans Administration, and on Saturday Pastor Thomas Smuda and members of the Rogers City Veterans of Foreign Wars will come to Memorial Park Cemetery in Rogers City at 1 p.m. to render honors.

“For a veteran, we want to do as much as we can for them, for honoring their life and their service to our country,” he said.

Those who wish to come and pay their respects Saturday are welcome, Mark said.

It took some digging to find Duane Berg’s documents, Evelyn said. His death certificate was in Charlevoix and his marriage certificate was in his hometown of Rogers City. His military documents were hard to find as well, but Evelyn and Mark were able to determine that Duane was stationed for some time in Texas and went to Libya at one point.

It’s unclear why Duane Berg never received a headstone before, Evelyn said. It was a very hard thing for the family to discuss, and after so many years there’s no one left to ask why. Mark and Duane’s parents have both passed away, as has Duane’s widow Donna.

“It was very devastating for my parents,” Mark said. “They never found a body. All through history we’ve never been aware of what to do.”

Mark has only dim memories of his brother, he said. He liked to laugh and enjoyed being the life of the party. Much more clear are his memories of Nov. 18, 1958. He remembers the phone ringing and his mother picking it up, then beginning to scream. She threw it down, grabbed him and ran across their back yard to a neighbor’s house. Mark was left in the garage with the neighbor’s son and husband.

Mark and Duane’s dad was on Drummond Island, and back then the dockside pay phone was the only phone on the island, Mark said. An operator who was aware of the disaster rang the phone repeatedly until someone answered. The man who picked up knew where to find Duane’s dad, so he found him and told him what had happened.

“The ferry was waiting for him, it only took him across,” Mark said.

Mark said his father knew Elmer Fleming and Frank Mays, the two survivors out of a 35-man crew on the Bradley, and Mark met Mays as well. Fleming had told Mark’s father that he was in the pilot house when the Bradley had split in half, and came down to the main deck where he met Duane. He told Fleming he had to go back to his room to grab a life jacket, and that’s the last time Fleming saw him.

When Duane Sr. died, his wife Donna was pregnant with their son, Mark said. After the tragedy she returned to her hometown of Buffalo, New York, and named her son after his father. Duane lives near Buffalo, and said he’ll be there for Saturday’s ceremony with his daughter, Heather.

Duane said his mother talked about his father quite a bit, but he can’t remember what she said. She had been planning to tell Duane Sr. about being pregnant when he returned with the Bradley. Now a grandfather, Duane said he’s certain his two daughters are happy to have their father in their lives.

“There’s been several times through my life where I’ve always wondered, I heard that (my father) was a lifeguard, he was a good swimmer,” he said. “It’s always in the back of your mind, wondering if some day you might stumble into him, you know?”

For Mark and Evelyn, the marker provides some closure after so many years – something in stone proving that Duane was on this earth, as Mark put it.

Duane’s son agrees.

“It sounds strange, but it gives you a place to go and talk to him, knowing his body is not there, but at least his spirit will be somewhere you can go and talk to him,” he said.

Jordan Travis can be reached via email at jtravis@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688. Follow Jordan on Twitter @jt_alpenanews. Read his blog, A Snowball’s Chance, at www.thealpenanews.com.