Nick Berg was my friend

Nick Berg was my friend.  The past week has been especially difficult for
all of those who were fortunate enough to meet Nick during a life that ended
far too prematurely.  The world stood transfixed on the media coverage
surrounding his grisly execution, searching for answers.  A maelstrom of
emotions has made this a miserable week for those who knew Nick and refuse
to accept the short-sighted portrayal that he was a victim of tragic
naivety. The truth is that for Nick to have avoided Iraq would have been to
betray everything that made Nick such a great man.

Everything Nick did in his life can be traced back to the altruism that
coursed through his veins.  In many ways, Nick was the embodiment of the
American ideal.  He was a Walt Whitman poem, Norman Rockwell Saturday
Evening Post portrait and Ansel Adams photograph all in one.  He possessed a
rugged individualism coupled with a heart that had a nearly single-minded
focus towards making this world a better place.

This was a guy whose philosophies extended fully through his meager wardrobe
which merely reflected his desire to put his money towards more important
priorities.  It consisted almost entirely of a few t-shirts, a pair of
jeans, and a single pair of steel-tipped boots.  Price and practicality were
his fashion statements.

Nick absolutely never preached about his beliefs and would sometimes even
hide them in this world that is often skeptical of charity.  When he went to
Africa for the first time, his physique changed from that of a bodybuilder's
to that of a skeleton.  He told his friends that he had developed a
tapeworm, but the infinitesimal portions of food that he consumed were
inconsistent with his explanation.  Nick had developed an eating disorder
almost unheard of in modern society.  While in Africa, rather then consume
his Western-sized meals, he would share his food with everybody, keeping
only the minimal amount for personal sustenance.  This was certainly not
done for vanity, as his giving away all but the clothes on his back before
his journey back to America further indicated.

Nick was an ardent capitalist, and his unique brand of ingenuity and
entrepreneurship had every right to transform every hopelessly impoverished
or war-torn nation in this world.  In every location that his business,
Prometheus Methods Tower Service was established, from Africa to the United
States, jobs and income were created.  Nick had both the foresight and
knowledge to recognize that the creation of communication infrastructures
through his tower building would greatly facilitate all other steps towards
modernization.  Iraq was a country in immediate need of rapid
reconstruction, and Nick saw an opportunity to help.

There are many people like Nick still in Iraq today who are not there for
any monetary gain.  These are the people who work for medical relief
organizations, and those that distribute food to the hungry.  They are the
civil engineers working to make the transportation infrastructure in Iraq
efficient enough to engage in trade within Iraq's borders and
internationally.  They are the Soldiers who are the chief police force right
now.

All of these people face xenophobia and danger every day, but to call them
naïve is an incredibly callous thing to do, no matter where you stand on the
war in Iraq.  Just as pure evil knows no boundaries, neither does pure good.
  Helping others with no ulterior motive other than to make this world a
better place is irrefutably right.

In Greek mythology, Prometheus was punished by Zeus for trying to improve
the lives of man through the gift of fire.  For this act of kindness, Zeus
condemned Prometheus to an agonizing lifetime of being chained to a rock and
being preyed upon by an eagle.

"Thy Godlike crime was to be kind,
To render with thy precepts less
The sum of human wretchedness,
And strengthen Man with his own mind;
...
And a firm will, and a deep sense,
Which even in torture can descry
Its own concenter'd recompense,
Triumphant where it dares defy,
And making Death a Victory."
-Lord Byron, "Prometheus," –1816

Back to Nick Berg

Man is more than fire tamed...

Hosted by: Professional Web Concepts, Inc.