He was enlisted into the armed forces in April 1941 and served a corporal of the Lincoln Army Air Field before his discharge in March 1946.
Bernier wrote a song about it, naming it "The Big Apple", which shot to the top of the Hit parade and "engulfed the country in a new dance craze" and went on to sell thousands of sheet music copies.
[5] Bernier wrote the lyrics for "Poinciana", a song by composer Nat Simon that was first introduced in the 1952 film Dreamboat.
[7] He was also the lyricist on "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" (not to be confused with the Bobby Vee song of the same name), co-written with Jerry Brainin and covered by John Coltrane, Harry Belafonte, and others.
[15] She credited her interest in music to her brother Buddy, particularly during their student days when they were favorites in their school productions[4] and during her career, worked under the name June Emmett.