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May 21, 2004/Sivan 1 5764, Vol. 56, No.35
500 people pay respects to Berg
BRYAN SCHWARTZMAN
Jewish Exponent
PHILADELPHIA - The family of Nicholas Evan Berg chose to have their 26-year-old son eulogized in a guarded memorial service at Kesher Israel as reporters and photographers lingered behind yellow police tape, about 200 yards away.
Some 500 or so people gathered inside the audi-torium at Kesher Israel on May 18 to celebrate the life of a young man whose beheading at the hands of Islamic extremists in Iraq shocked and outraged the nation.
"This was not a time to reflect on the war in Iraq or global terrorism. This was the time to mourn the loss of an extraordinary young man," said Rabbi David Glanzberg-Krainin, who presided over Berg's burial in the Montefiore Cemetery in Jenkintown and the memorial service that followed it.
Nick Berg's body was found in Baghdad on May 8; his family was notified of his death the following day. He had been missing since April 10, after telling family members that he was headed home. A videotape of Berg's execution surfaced on May 11 on a Web site with links to the terrorist group Al Qaeda.
According to Carl Goldstein of Goldsteins' Rosenberg's Raphael Sacks Inc., Berg's body arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on May 12, and was turned over to the funeral home later that day. Goldstein said that fewer than 20 people attended the private cemetery service.
"When I met with the family, they were cried out - emotionally drained - but doing what they needed to do," Goldstein said.
Still, moments of laughter broke up tears at the Kesher Israel auditorium during the memorial service, according to Glanzberg-Krainin. Among those sharing humorous and poignant stories about Berg's life were his father, Michael, and his brother and sister, David and Sara.
Michael Berg drew a few chuckles, according to the rabbi, when he removed his suit jacket to show a kelly-green T-shirt, the same type that his son wore to scale telecommunications towers.
Glanzberg-Krainin read remarks that Berg's mother, Suzanne, had prepared for the service.
A community of manicured gardens and quiet streets, the area around Estate Drive in West Whiteland Township, just outside the Chester County seat of West Chester, became a media village last week as reporters from national and local outlets descended upon the house that Nick Berg called home since he was a toddler.
A floral arrangement in the shape of a Star of David rested on the Bergs' front lawn.
"We are stunned," said John Trama, who lives down the road. "He was a very courteous, respectful kid."
Berg received his early education in the West Chester Area School District, where his father taught for more than 20 years. In middle school, he competed in a series of projects and experiments that tested mathematical and scientific know-how.
He attended Henderson High School, where former teachers described the 1996 graduate as a "renaissance man," whose interests included science, art, music, fitness and, above all, people.
Berg played saxophone and tuba in the school's marching band, earning the John Philip Sousa Award for musician-ship, leadership and dedic-ation.
"He was just a terrific kid, very dedicated and always willing to help," said Jim Morrison, who runs the school's marching band. He said Berg always came up with ideas on how to load the equipment trailer more efficiently.
By all accounts, Berg was a compassionate person who possessed a bit of wanderlust. He attended several insti-tutions of higher education, including Cornell University, the University of Pennsyl-vania, Drexel University and the University of Oklahoma.
Berg left Cornell before graduating to do telecommuni-cations work in Texas. He took undergraduate physics courses at Drexel, but stayed just a semester.
Berg's interest in the developing world took him to Ghana and Uganda. According to Morrison, Berg recounted stories of traveling alone, without a translator, from village to village.
In recent years, Berg ran Prometheus Methods Tower Services Inc., a small telecommunications business, and was apparently searching for business opportunities in Iraq before he was captured.
Said Morrison, his former music teacher: "I know he was in Iraq to help. He was a humanitarian well beyond his years. Knowing that, it just added that much more to the horrific nature of it all.''
Bryan Schwartzman writes for the Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia, where this story first appeared.
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