Death
Early on the morning of September 5, 1972, Palestinian terrorists took Berger and his five roommates hostage, after having earlier seized six officials in another apartment and wounding wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg in the face. While the athletes were being moved to the first apartment, Weinberg grappled with the intruders, allowing flyweight wrestler Gad Tsobari to escape but resulting in Weinberg’s death by gunfire. As the remaining hostages and terrorists entered the officials’ apartment, weightlifter Yossef Romano also attempted to overpower the intruders. Romano was cut nearly in half by automatic fire (his corpse was left all day at the feet of the hostages, who were tied to beds), and Berger was shot in his left shoulder, a wound seen by German officials later in the day. It is believed that Berger, being physically one of the largest of the hostages, was also beaten in order to intimidate the other hostages.
After all-day negotiations, the terrorists and their tied-up hostages were transferred from the Olympic Village via helicopter to Fürstenfeldbruck airbase outside of Munich, where the terrorists believed they would be flown to a friendly Arab nation. Instead, the German border guards and Munich police attempted to ambush the terrorists and free the hostages. After a two-hour gunfight, one of the terrorists turned on the helicopter in which Berger was sitting and sprayed it with machine-gun fire. The other three hostages in the helicopter were killed instantly, but somehow Berger only received two non-lethal wounds in his legs. However, the terrorist then detonated a hand grenade inside the helicopter, causing a huge explosion and fire. An autopsy found that Berger had died of smoke inhalation. The five hostages in the other helicopter were all shot to death by another terrorist.
While the 10 other Israeli Olympians were flown to and buried in Israel, David Berger’s body was returned to the United States on an Air Force jet personally ordered by President Richard Nixon. Berger is buried in his hometown of Cleveland.
For more details on this topic, see Munich Massacre.Read more about this topic: David Mark Berger
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“The death of a dear friend, wife, brother, lover, which seemed nothing but privation, somewhat later assumes the aspect of a guide or genius; for it commonly operates revolutions in our way of life, terminates an epoch of infancy or of youth which was waiting to be closed, breaks up a wonted occupation, or a household, or style of living, and allows for the formation of new ones more friendly to the growth of character.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“I could lie down like a tired child,
And weep away the life of care
Which I have borne and yet must bear,
Till death like sleep might steal on me,”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)