Shaffer
04-07-04, 10:39 PM
On Jan. 28, 1991, then-Marine Capt. Craig “Raz” Berryman took off in his AV-8B Harrier fighter jet not knowing he was about to embark on an unpredictable and brutal 37-day journey as a prisoner of war in Iraq.
More than 13 years later, Lt. Col. Berryman shared his experiences here during a session of professional military education held for members supporting Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa March 31.
“I’ve told this story probably thousands of times,” said Berryman who has served 19 years in the Marine Corps. “But to this day, I relive it every time I tell it.”
As the humming of a projector signaled the start of the PME, the crowd of sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines turn their attention to the front of the room where Berryman reached back in time to his days of brutal beatings endured in a prison camp during Operation Desert Storm.
It started as a routine search and destroy mission to take out an Iraqi missile system. Due to aircraft malfunction, Berryman had to make two attempts to drop his munitions on his mark.
It was at this time the aircraft malfunctioned again, and his jet was struck by an enemy missile, which took out the tail section of his plane. With only seconds to react, he made the decision to eject from his aircraft over enemy territory.
“Before going on our mission, we were all shown pictures of what happened if you were taken as a POW,” said Berryman who was a pilot with VMA-311 stationed out of Yuma, Ariz. “The sights of these tortured bodies flashed through my mind before I decided I should at least give myself a chance to live and pulled the ejection lever.”
While parachuting to the ground from 3,000 feet, a sound of breaking sticks entered the calm of his downward flight. This sound was coming from enemy AK-47s opening fire on him as he floated closer to the ground.
After miraculously escaping being shot while airborne, he hit the ground and started running, again narrowly avoiding enemy bullets. His luck shortly ran out, and he was captured and taken to a series of bunkers for interrogation.
“I never got out a radio message before I ejected, and the Iraqis knew this,” said Berryman. “They said that they could kill me and no one would know how I died.”
With this running through his head, his thoughts turned to his family thousands of miles away. He became extremely concerned that his family would never know what happened to him.
“It was more difficult on my wife than me,” said Berryman. “I knew I was alive, but she didn’t.”
As the interrogations went on and Berryman continued to refuse to answer any questions, the captors knocked him to the ground, blindfolded and handcuffed him. As he was brought out of the interrogation bunker and being transported from Kuwait to Basra, he was beaten in the head severely by two guards.
Once in Basra, he was asked what religion he was. When he answered he was a Baptist, the captors called him a “lying Jew,” and one guard struck Berryman in the back of his left leg with a lead pipe, breaking his leg.
“As soon as he hit me, I dropped to the ground with the most excruciating pain I had ever felt in my life,” said Berryman, a Cleveland, Okla., native.
As he continued to refuse to answer the questions his captors asked, he was taken away and beaten more severely and was burned on his forehead, nose and ears several times with a lit cigarette before his captor crushed the cigarette in an open wound in Berryman’s neck.
After the interrogations in Basra, he was then transported to Baghdad where the beatings continued; he could also hear other American POWs being beaten as well.
“The worst feeling in the world is hearing other people being beaten and there is nothing you can do about it,” said Berryman. “The second worse is knowing that you are next.”
He spent days at this prison, named by the POWs as the “Biltmore,” and was being fed a starving diet that forced him to lose 25 pounds in his Iraqi captivity. He spent many days in solitary confinement in a 6-by 10-foot cell with no lights and a nonfunctioning toilet.
“When I was in solitary confinement, I prayed a lot,” said Berryman. “Every time I was just about to run out of hope, I started praying and a solution to my problems was answered.”
Soon the Biltmore was bombed by allied forces, and he was moved to a civilian prison before being handed over to U.S. forces and began his journey back to the United States.
Once back to the states, he was properly treated for his injuries for the first time since his 37-day journey began. To this day, he believes the training he received in the Marines was a crucial element in his days as a POW.
One type of training he received before being captured was Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training at Naval Air Base Coronado. This training includes tactics to avoid being captured, staying alive if captured and keeping honor in tact, said Berryman.
“The best school I’ve ever been to was the SERE school,” said Berryman. “I looked back on this training everyday and felt I had an advantage because of it.”
Even though he has told his story thousands of times, it took months before he was able to tell the whole story of his captivity in Iraq, said Berryman. It wasn’t until the nightmares of his experience subsided before he could tell his tale.
“There’s not a day that goes by I don’t think about my experiences as a POW,” said Berryman.
For the service members of CJTF-HOA who participated in the hour-long PME, many said they were very impressed and touched after hearing Berryman’s story.
“It was a humbling experience,” said Lance Cpl. Nicholas L. Rouse, a legal services specialist with CJTF-HOA. “He views himself as nothing special even though he survived being a POW.”
With every presentation he makes, Berryman says he hopes service members take at least two things with them. One being that if everyone believes in themselves, there is really nothing a person can’t overcome. The second is the belief that the United States is the best-trained military force in the world.
“We get all the training we need to handle any situation we face, whether peacetime or combat,” said Berryman. “If you trust your training, it will get you through any circumstance.”
Finally, many people have asked him why after all the horrific things he’s been through, why would he stay in the military. Berryman said it’s just three words: Zachary, David and Michael, his triplet sons.
“I want to make sure my children grow up in a world that is safe from more terrorist acts like 9-11,” said Berryman.
More than 13 years later, Lt. Col. Berryman shared his experiences here during a session of professional military education held for members supporting Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa March 31.
“I’ve told this story probably thousands of times,” said Berryman who has served 19 years in the Marine Corps. “But to this day, I relive it every time I tell it.”
As the humming of a projector signaled the start of the PME, the crowd of sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines turn their attention to the front of the room where Berryman reached back in time to his days of brutal beatings endured in a prison camp during Operation Desert Storm.
It started as a routine search and destroy mission to take out an Iraqi missile system. Due to aircraft malfunction, Berryman had to make two attempts to drop his munitions on his mark.
It was at this time the aircraft malfunctioned again, and his jet was struck by an enemy missile, which took out the tail section of his plane. With only seconds to react, he made the decision to eject from his aircraft over enemy territory.
“Before going on our mission, we were all shown pictures of what happened if you were taken as a POW,” said Berryman who was a pilot with VMA-311 stationed out of Yuma, Ariz. “The sights of these tortured bodies flashed through my mind before I decided I should at least give myself a chance to live and pulled the ejection lever.”
While parachuting to the ground from 3,000 feet, a sound of breaking sticks entered the calm of his downward flight. This sound was coming from enemy AK-47s opening fire on him as he floated closer to the ground.
After miraculously escaping being shot while airborne, he hit the ground and started running, again narrowly avoiding enemy bullets. His luck shortly ran out, and he was captured and taken to a series of bunkers for interrogation.
“I never got out a radio message before I ejected, and the Iraqis knew this,” said Berryman. “They said that they could kill me and no one would know how I died.”
With this running through his head, his thoughts turned to his family thousands of miles away. He became extremely concerned that his family would never know what happened to him.
“It was more difficult on my wife than me,” said Berryman. “I knew I was alive, but she didn’t.”
As the interrogations went on and Berryman continued to refuse to answer any questions, the captors knocked him to the ground, blindfolded and handcuffed him. As he was brought out of the interrogation bunker and being transported from Kuwait to Basra, he was beaten in the head severely by two guards.
Once in Basra, he was asked what religion he was. When he answered he was a Baptist, the captors called him a “lying Jew,” and one guard struck Berryman in the back of his left leg with a lead pipe, breaking his leg.
“As soon as he hit me, I dropped to the ground with the most excruciating pain I had ever felt in my life,” said Berryman, a Cleveland, Okla., native.
As he continued to refuse to answer the questions his captors asked, he was taken away and beaten more severely and was burned on his forehead, nose and ears several times with a lit cigarette before his captor crushed the cigarette in an open wound in Berryman’s neck.
After the interrogations in Basra, he was then transported to Baghdad where the beatings continued; he could also hear other American POWs being beaten as well.
“The worst feeling in the world is hearing other people being beaten and there is nothing you can do about it,” said Berryman. “The second worse is knowing that you are next.”
He spent days at this prison, named by the POWs as the “Biltmore,” and was being fed a starving diet that forced him to lose 25 pounds in his Iraqi captivity. He spent many days in solitary confinement in a 6-by 10-foot cell with no lights and a nonfunctioning toilet.
“When I was in solitary confinement, I prayed a lot,” said Berryman. “Every time I was just about to run out of hope, I started praying and a solution to my problems was answered.”
Soon the Biltmore was bombed by allied forces, and he was moved to a civilian prison before being handed over to U.S. forces and began his journey back to the United States.
Once back to the states, he was properly treated for his injuries for the first time since his 37-day journey began. To this day, he believes the training he received in the Marines was a crucial element in his days as a POW.
One type of training he received before being captured was Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training at Naval Air Base Coronado. This training includes tactics to avoid being captured, staying alive if captured and keeping honor in tact, said Berryman.
“The best school I’ve ever been to was the SERE school,” said Berryman. “I looked back on this training everyday and felt I had an advantage because of it.”
Even though he has told his story thousands of times, it took months before he was able to tell the whole story of his captivity in Iraq, said Berryman. It wasn’t until the nightmares of his experience subsided before he could tell his tale.
“There’s not a day that goes by I don’t think about my experiences as a POW,” said Berryman.
For the service members of CJTF-HOA who participated in the hour-long PME, many said they were very impressed and touched after hearing Berryman’s story.
“It was a humbling experience,” said Lance Cpl. Nicholas L. Rouse, a legal services specialist with CJTF-HOA. “He views himself as nothing special even though he survived being a POW.”
With every presentation he makes, Berryman says he hopes service members take at least two things with them. One being that if everyone believes in themselves, there is really nothing a person can’t overcome. The second is the belief that the United States is the best-trained military force in the world.
“We get all the training we need to handle any situation we face, whether peacetime or combat,” said Berryman. “If you trust your training, it will get you through any circumstance.”
Finally, many people have asked him why after all the horrific things he’s been through, why would he stay in the military. Berryman said it’s just three words: Zachary, David and Michael, his triplet sons.
“I want to make sure my children grow up in a world that is safe from more terrorist acts like 9-11,” said Berryman.