GEORGE P BERG
Hometown:
BELFORD
County:
Monmouth
Status:
Missing In Action
Rank:
CWO
Branch of Service:
Army
Country of Incident:
LAOS
Date of Casualty:
February 18, 1971
Date of Birth:
July 16, 1946
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George Philip
Berg was born on July 16, 1946, in Seattle, WA. His family moved to
New Jersey and he graduated from Toms River High School. His home of
record is Belford, NJ. In 1965, he was the state indoor champion in
the 440, Groups I and II. He starred on the cross-country team. George
attended York Junior College where he also starred in track
Berg entered the US Army, attended Warrant Officer Flight School and
attained the rank of Chief Warrant Officer (CWO). He received his
wings and commission at Fort Rucker, AL, in March 1970, and left for
Vietnam that May, assigned as the aircraft commander to Company A,
101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. He was stationed
near the demilitarized zone.
Berg was listed as missing in action on February 18, 1971. Leading a
group of four aircraft, his helicopter was shot down during a rescue
mission over Laos.
George willed his estate for the creation of a fund for trophies and
medals for the track meets he had participated in. His father credited
him with being instrumental in starting the Naval Air Reserve Indoor
Invitational Track Meet in 1965, held annually at the Lakehurst Naval
Air Station for high schools in Monmouth and Ocean Counties. His
father was then Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Reserve Training
Unit.
Warrant Officer George Berg, was the “baby” of the Berg family. Born
after World War II, he was the only child of a family of three to have
his father present at his birth. His older brother and sister were
both born while Norman was overseas in the Navy.
George was physically compact from his training as an athlete. He
weighed 145 lbs. on a 5’6” frame. He earned high school letters in
football, track, and gymnastics. In college, he was a successful
cross-country runner competing in three New York Invitational
cross-country meets.
It was, however, his qualities as a friend that made him a warm,
loving man, always aware of his world and involved with his family and
his friends. He was innocently honest with others, always believing
that he would never be hurt by anyone who was his friend.
He had complete and unswerving confidence in his ability to accomplish
any goal he set for himself. He seemed to be able to “role play”, in a
sense, see himself as someone else. He had a warm tenor and romantic
voice. He loved to sing the music of Pat Boone, a man who wore
sweaters, saddle shoes, and wore his hair short. He began dressing
like Pat Boone, imitating his idol. When his high school glee club was
invited to sing at the Christmas tree lighting in New York City in the
late sixties, George was the featured soloist. At that event, he was
Pat Boone.
He was not a religious person, nor was his family. At fifteen years
old, however, he asked if he had ever been baptized. When he found out
he hadn’t been, he began going to church on his own, and six weeks
later he told his parents that they were invited to his baptism
ceremony. George never explained why he felt the need for the
ceremony. He had made the decision. There was no need for explanation.
George’s relationship with his girlfriends, and there were many, since
he was as handsome as he was charming, were those of dreamlike
infatuations. His respect for women was total and uncompromising. His
parents always said that if they could see into his mind, that they
were certain they would find the faces of lovely young women, not
homework assignments.
Before he was old enough to drive, he would “con” his dad or mom into
driving him and his date to the movies or to a school dance. The two
young people would sit in the back of the car while one of the parents
acted as chauffeur. In George’s words, this was being “swave and
deboner.” (suave and debonair) He had a wonderful sense of the
ridiculous.
George was not a good student, though his parents were always amazed
at how quickly he would learn his football plays, and yet bring home
barely passing grades, just enough to stay eligible to participate in
sports. His parents wondered how he would do when he decided, in 1969,
to go into the Army’s flight training program to become a pilot.
His father and mother attended George’s graduation from the U.S. Army
Flight School at Fort Rucker, AL in April 1970. His father, a highly
decorated Naval Aviator, pinned his Army wings on his son’s chest.
George grinned at his father, and Norman recollects him saying: “See,
Dad. They’re not the gold Navy wings like you have, but I got them,
just like you Dad.”
Written by a family member
Synopsis (from the POW Network) as to the circumstances behind being
listed as MIA:
WO Gerald E. Woods, pilot; WO George P. Berg, aircraft commander; SP4
Gary L. Johnson, door gunner; SP4 Walter Demsey, crew chief; were
assigned to Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne
Division. On February 18, 1971, their UH1H was dispatched as part of a
flight of four on an emergency patrol extraction mission on the West
Side of the A Shau Valley in Thua Tin Province, South Vietnam. The
patrol to be rescued included Sgt. Allen R. Lloyd, Capt. Ronald L.
Watson and SFC Samuel Hernandez, part of Special Operations
Augmentation, Command & Control North, 5th Special Forces Group.
The team was assigned to MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command,
Vietnam Studies and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service
high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly
classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special
Forces channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a
Special Forces group) through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA),
which provided their "cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG.
The teams performed deep penetration missions of strategic
reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the
time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.
During the attempt to recover the patrol, Woods' helicopter came under
heavy fire and had to leave the pick-up zone with Lloyd, Watson and
Hernandez attached to the three-staple rig. While in flight, the rope
broke, and Hernandez fell 30-40 feet, landing in double canopy jungle.
He was rescued the following day. The helicopter continued a short
distance, and was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire, crashed and burned.
On February 19, a Special Forces recovery team was inserted at the
crash site to search the area. Woods and Berg were found dead in their
seats. Johnson's body was found in a tree. One leg of Demsey, the
burned crew chief, was found in the cargo compartment. All remains
were prepared for extraction, and the team left to establish a night
defensive position. En route, the team found the remains of Lloyd and
Watson, still on their rope slings, in the trees on the edge of a
cliff. Because of the rugged terrain and approaching darkness, the
rescue team leader decided to wait until morning to recover these two
remains. However, the following morning, the search team came under
intense fire, and the team leader requested an emergency extraction,
and in doing so, left all remains behind.
All the crew and passengers on board the UH1H downed on the border of
Laos and Vietnam west of the A Shau Valley that day were confirmed
dead. It is unfortunate, but a reality of war that their remains were
left behind out of necessity to protect the lives of the search team
who found them. They are listed with honor among the missing because
their remains cannot be buried with honor at home.
Sources: Norman Berg (father) and NJVVMF.
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