philadelphia | Relatives of Nicholas Berg, the young Jewish American entrepreneur beheaded in Iraq, have taken different paths as they’ve searched for solace in the year since his death.
His father, Michael Berg, has intensified his anti-war activities and traveled the globe to meet families of other civilians kidnapped or slain in Iraq. His weekly peace vigil at a suburban Philadelphia courthouse and frequent interviews contrast sharply with the response of his wife, Suzanne, who has grieved privately since her son’s body was found on a Baghdad street on May 8, 2004.
“We’re through the worst of the friction that emerged from my wife’s very private way of mourning and my very public way of mourning,” said Michael Berg, who retired from teaching a few years ago.
“My wife and I will be married 38 years in August. We haven’t gotten through 38 years without any problems, but we’ve learned what our priorities are,” he said.
Nick Berg, 26, a small contractor who hoped to find work repairing radio towers in Iraq, went missing April 10, 2004, after leaving his Baghdad hotel.
Berg was devout and carried a Jewish prayer shawl, something that may have gotten him in trouble in Iraq. His father is an atheist, but sought out a course on forgiveness this spring at a Catholic college near his West Chester, Penn., home.
“Forgiveness was something I had been wrestling with since the moment I got the phone call that Nick was dead,” he said. “I had this huge burning fire within me, and I wanted to get rid of it.”