thedrifter
11-22-05, 07:05 AM
Cape Marine earns national award for Iraq mission
By Justin St. Clair
jstclair@news-press.com
Originally posted on November 22, 2005
Stephen Berge was looking for a different kind of challenge when he joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 2000 while he was in college in Virginia.
"I just decided I wanted something different," said Berge, 25, of Cape Coral.
Now Berge is being called a hero and has just won a national award from the Marines.
Until the summer 2004, being a reservist meant the normal weekend activities along with some combat training in Romania.
Then, after graduation, he got word his unit was being sent to intensive training in California and on to Iraq.
Berge, a corporal, headed to Iraq in August, and it wasn't long before the heavy-equipment operator was in combat.
In November 2004, in the heat of the Battle of Fallujah, insurgents were firing missiles at U.S. headquarters from a mosque.
"They sent me and one other guy out one night, and we took it out," Berge said, describing how he drove his Dozer tank to the mosque and destroyed it under enemy fire.
The act earned him the Marine Engineer Equipment Noncommissioned Officer Award of the Year.
Berge returned to Cape Coral in March. Several reservists in his unit had nominated each other for various awards, but the information had been lost.
Then he got a call from someone else in his unit, telling him he had written up Berge again regarding the incident.
Shortly thereafter, an officer called his cell phone while he was driving to Virginia for his monthly reserve service and told him he had been chosen.
"I felt pretty honored by it," he said. "The Marine Corps is pretty big. There's lots of operators."
As for the event that prompted the award, Berge is modest.
"You could write a book about everything that happened over there," he said.
Berge was presented with the award at a ceremony in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in October.
His father, Richard Berge, 56, said he was impressed to hear that his son had been chosen from a pool that included full-time Marines as well as reservists. Learning Stephen was the first reservist to receive the award in the Iraq war also was a proud moment.
He said presenters focused on how the Iraq war had blurred the line between reservists and full-time Marines.
"There's no difference anymore," Richard Berge said. "They pretty much slip right in to whatever they need to do there."
Richard Berge said when he heard his son was headed to Iraq, he figured that as a Dozer operator, he would probably work in more secure areas. He didn't picture his son going into battle and was stunned to hear what he had done in Fallujah.
"He told us that we probably wouldn't hear from him for six weeks," Richard Berge remembers his son telling him before going to Fallujah. "We had no idea what he was doing.
Berge holds a joint degree in biology, business and psychology from Liberty University. He works for his family's company, Berge Building & Contracting in Cape Coral, operating heavy equipment or doing whatever else needs to be done.
Richard Berge said it is great to have his son home and working for him, although they've had a few hiccups.
"Every time I reach that point, I think, 'A year ago, this kid was protecting this country,'" Richard Berge said. "It brings me back to what's really important."
Stephen Berge plans to marry his fiancee, Katrina, in January and live in the house his father built for him while he was in Iraq.
"We started it right before I left," Berge said. "It gave him a project to do while I was gone."
Ellie
By Justin St. Clair
jstclair@news-press.com
Originally posted on November 22, 2005
Stephen Berge was looking for a different kind of challenge when he joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 2000 while he was in college in Virginia.
"I just decided I wanted something different," said Berge, 25, of Cape Coral.
Now Berge is being called a hero and has just won a national award from the Marines.
Until the summer 2004, being a reservist meant the normal weekend activities along with some combat training in Romania.
Then, after graduation, he got word his unit was being sent to intensive training in California and on to Iraq.
Berge, a corporal, headed to Iraq in August, and it wasn't long before the heavy-equipment operator was in combat.
In November 2004, in the heat of the Battle of Fallujah, insurgents were firing missiles at U.S. headquarters from a mosque.
"They sent me and one other guy out one night, and we took it out," Berge said, describing how he drove his Dozer tank to the mosque and destroyed it under enemy fire.
The act earned him the Marine Engineer Equipment Noncommissioned Officer Award of the Year.
Berge returned to Cape Coral in March. Several reservists in his unit had nominated each other for various awards, but the information had been lost.
Then he got a call from someone else in his unit, telling him he had written up Berge again regarding the incident.
Shortly thereafter, an officer called his cell phone while he was driving to Virginia for his monthly reserve service and told him he had been chosen.
"I felt pretty honored by it," he said. "The Marine Corps is pretty big. There's lots of operators."
As for the event that prompted the award, Berge is modest.
"You could write a book about everything that happened over there," he said.
Berge was presented with the award at a ceremony in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in October.
His father, Richard Berge, 56, said he was impressed to hear that his son had been chosen from a pool that included full-time Marines as well as reservists. Learning Stephen was the first reservist to receive the award in the Iraq war also was a proud moment.
He said presenters focused on how the Iraq war had blurred the line between reservists and full-time Marines.
"There's no difference anymore," Richard Berge said. "They pretty much slip right in to whatever they need to do there."
Richard Berge said when he heard his son was headed to Iraq, he figured that as a Dozer operator, he would probably work in more secure areas. He didn't picture his son going into battle and was stunned to hear what he had done in Fallujah.
"He told us that we probably wouldn't hear from him for six weeks," Richard Berge remembers his son telling him before going to Fallujah. "We had no idea what he was doing.
Berge holds a joint degree in biology, business and psychology from Liberty University. He works for his family's company, Berge Building & Contracting in Cape Coral, operating heavy equipment or doing whatever else needs to be done.
Richard Berge said it is great to have his son home and working for him, although they've had a few hiccups.
"Every time I reach that point, I think, 'A year ago, this kid was protecting this country,'" Richard Berge said. "It brings me back to what's really important."
Stephen Berge plans to marry his fiancee, Katrina, in January and live in the house his father built for him while he was in Iraq.
"We started it right before I left," Berge said. "It gave him a project to do while I was gone."
Ellie