TIMELINES
July 2005

FORT KNOX, Ky. -- An Indiana national guardsman pleaded guilty Monday to negligent homicide in the death of an Iraqi police officer, a crime he was accused of attempting to cover up by shooting himself in the stomach.

Cpl. Dustin Berg, 21, is shown here at a February 2004 ceremony at Camp Atterbury in Johnson County.

 

Cpl. Dustin Berg, 22, will spend 18 months in prison and receive a bad conduct discharge from the Army.

Berg, of Ferdinand, Ind., had changed his story multiple times during the investigation, initially saying the Iraqi had pointed an AK-47 at him to prevent Berg from reporting insurgent activity. On Monday, however, Berg said that Iraqi police officers as a matter of habit carried their guns with the barrels pointed slightly upward.

"I shouldn't have automatically considered him a threat," Berg said. "I misread the situation."

It was the latest in at least a dozen court-martials of U.S. troops accused in the deaths of Iraqi civilians.

Berg was accused of killing the Iraqi police officer in November 2003, then shooting himself in the stomach to give the impression of a gunfight and block an investigation.

"I thought I was going to die," Berg testified during a May hearing. "I felt I had no choice but to fear for my life."

He later admitted that he shot himself with the Iraqi's weapon in an attempt to limit questions since there were no witnesses. Three other soldiers from his unit were under investigation at the time, and Berg said he was scared he would be, too.

Prosecutors had asked that Berg receive a dishonorable discharge from the Army and nearly four years in confinement. He had faced up to 14 years in prison.

Berg's civilian attorney, Charles Gittins, asked the court to discharge Berg but not confine him to a military prison because Berg is newly married and has a child on the way.

"He's already punished himself. He shot himself. He's already pleaded guilty. He's already accepted responsibility but a lengthy term of confinement will have no rehabilitative effect," Gittins said.

The charges against Berg raised questions about whether a soldier's right to defend himself depends on the presence of a witness.

Most military personnel accused of murder argue self-defense because there are few other options available on the battlefield, said Gary Solis, a law professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Soldiers can claim they were acting in self-defense or that they were following orders, Solis said.

At least eight U.S. soldiers have been convicted or have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the deaths of Iraqis.

July 24, 2005 - A town stands by native son - Indiana guardsman facing a court martial for Iraq crimes

FERDINAND, Ind. -- Indiana National Guard Cpl. Dustin Berg will face a court martial tomorrow in which a military jury will be asked to decide whether he should be punished for killing an Iraqi police officer.

But the people of Ferdinand, the village in southern Dubois County where Berg was born and reared, have already rendered their verdict:

Shame on the government for even bringing the charges.

"We're supportive of him because he went over to fight a war," said Larry Werne, a Vietnam veteran who knows Berg from the American Legion Post 124 in Ferdinand. "He's a fine young man."

Berg has admitted that he shot the Iraqi officer in 2003, then used the man's gun to shoot himself, and later lied about it, accepting a Purple Heart for his injuries.

After questions arose, Berg, who was 20 at the time, said he believed the officer was about to kill him and that he lied about shooting himself because he feared no one would believe him unless he was injured.

Berg's friends and neighbors argue that he is guilty of nothing more than poor judgment.

"Everybody knows Dustin would by no means do anything wrong unless he was in danger for own life," said John Verkamp, an organizer of a recent benefit to help pay Berg's legal expenses.

But military prosecutors will try to prove that Berg had no justification for his actions. They declined through a Fort Knox spokeswoman to be interviewed.

"The government must establish that Dustin was not reasonably afraid for his life," said Berg's civilian attorney, Charles Gittins. The military's rules of engagement "permitted use of deadly force to prevent death or serious injury. Dustin obviously felt afraid."

Said his mother, Mary Lee Berg: "He is not a murderer."

In Ferdinand, a patriotic place of German heritage where American flags furl from the porches of old red brick houses, many believe Berg is the victim in this case.

Steve Willis, the American Legion post's manager, said local people are virtually unanimous in their frustration with the government over this case.

"They put him there in the first place," Willis said. "He's over there in Iraq. What would you do if you were in that situation?"

But Gary Solis, a West Point law professor, said murders can occur even in a war zone. "Just because one is in combat doesn't mean they have a license to kill anyone," said Solis, a Vietnam veteran and former military prosecutor.

Typically, he added, if there is some question about the case, a prosecutor will give the soldier the benefit of the doubt.

Solis said, however, that the Iraq conflict is especially difficult for soldiers because they are faced daily "with people who appear to be civilians but turn out to be combatants."

Berg, who declined through his attorney to be interviewed, is, according to friends and family, trying to move on despite facing charges of murder, false swearing, making an official statement with intent to deceive and intentionally inflicting injury upon himself.

On May 14 he married his girlfriend of more than two years, Amber Kunkler, in a ceremony attended by more than 400.

"I think she's been some reassurance for him," said John Hoppenjans, who was a groomsman at the wedding.

Berg also has joined the Ferdinand Volunteer Fire Department and has been coaching junior high soccer with Hoppenjans. "The kids love him," Hoppenjans said.

Friends say he rarely talks about Iraq.

He is simply trying to "get all this behind him," said Tammy Fleck, who owns the Oasis Bar & Grill, where Berg sometimes comes to play pool.

Jim Hagedorn, former principal of Forest Park Junior-Senior High School, said Berg "thinks he will be cleared of all this. He thinks he will be able to go on with his life. I hope that happens too. I think he's a great kid."

Berg was born and reared on a farm in Ferdinand, a relatively prosperous town that sits in the shadow of the St. Meinrad Archabbey. Despite its small size -- population 2,300 -- the community has two banks, several restaurants and a hotel. The county has the state's fifth-highest per-capita income.

His parents raise corn and hay on 200 acres. When he was young, Berg -- the third of four boys -- often worked on the farm, his mother said.

He liked to hunt, ride four-wheelers and hang out with friends.

He attended Forest Park, a school where 80 percent of kids go on to college, test scores are far higher than the state average and sports teams are the pride of the community.

Berg was a defensive starter on a high school soccer team that lost the sectional championship in overtime and a pole-vaulter who won all-conference honors his senior year.

He was a decent student, although friends said he was more apt to be joking at the back of the class than sitting up front raising his hand.

Still, Sister Jeanette Adler, the school's librarian, said he was not a troublemaker. "He was rather quiet, well-behaved," Adler said. "He was very mature. Very polite."

He is pictured in his yearbook on the homecoming court. He was a leader with the Future Farmers of America, a position he took seriously because he believed in its public service, Hagedorn said.

After high school, Berg went to work pouring concrete. Later, he would work as an upholsterer for Best Chairs, a furniture maker with a plant in Ferdinand.

He also joined the Indiana National Guard. He had tried to sign up before he turned 18, but his mother refused to sign the authorization. The next year, she couldn't stop him.

"According to the rules he could sign his life away," she said.

Hoppenjans said he was surprised by the move, adding that Berg "just never seemed like the military type."

But Berg had been deeply affected by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and wanted to defend his country, his mother said.

During basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., Berg wrote friends and family regularly. After his deployment to Iraq, he phoned using a calling card his parents gave him.

He came home on leave in August 2003 and proposed to Amber before heading back.

Then, in November, his family learned he had been shot. The word came at 10:30 a.m., and for nearly five hours, they didn't know if he was OK. After surgery in Baghdad, he went to Germany to recover before returning to the war.

He came home the following February, a war hero. His military commanders lauded his work. Only later did questions about his injury emerge.

Mary Lee Berg said her son doesn't talk about the incident. But he related his story at an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding, in May.

According to that unsworn testimony:

Berg and the Iraqi police officer, Hussein Kamel Hadi Dawood al-Zubeidi, were on patrol together in November 2003 at a base about 90 minutes from Baghdad. Berg saw a man in a red turban, which matched the description of a suspect.

Berg told al-Zubeidi that he was going to call in the sighting, but the officer said, "No, my friend," several times, then pointed his AK-47 at him.

Berg shot the officer three times, then picked up Zubeidi's weapon and shot himself in the stomach.

According to military officials, Berg told a very different story immediately after the incident, first claiming a man in a red turban shot him. His story changed several times during the investigation, Army officials said.

Still, in February 2004, Berg received a Purple Heart at a ceremony at Camp Atterbury. According to The Herald, a newspaper in Dubois County, Berg said then that, "I guess you have to get one yourself to know" how it feels to receive a Purple Heart.

But in June 2004, as the investigation continued, he admitted his lies, Army officials said.

He was arrested, put back on active duty for his trial and now spends his weekdays at Fort Knox and his weekends back home in Dubois County. Friends said he's coping well.

"He's in real good spirits," said Nick Rahman, who describes himself as one of Berg's close friends. "He's keeping his head up real well."

But Mary Lee Berg said she is scared, angry, and "mad at the government."

Gittins said Dustin Berg is "extremely remorseful" for his actions after the shooting.

"He made a grave judgment error," Gittins said. 

Lesley Stedman Weidenbener, Louisville Courier-Journal - Louisville,KY,USA

July 21, 2005 - Stolen Medal of Honor returned

The Medal of Honor was once again placed around the neck of veteran Sammy Davis.

Indianapolis, July 21 - As the only living Hoosier ever to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, Sammy L. Davis of Martinsville usually gets a warm greeting.

As the only Hoosier to ever have his medal stolen, you get a little bit more.

During a ceremony on the steps of the War Memorial, Marion County Public Safety Director told those gathered, "You cannot steal honor, you cannot steal integrity, you cannot steal dedication and commitment to your nation."

Someone stole Davis' briefcase containing the medal last week. Indianapolis Police tracked it to the White River and the Indianapolis Fire Department retrieved it.

IPD Detective Ron Gray said, "If I could give anything back to all of America and the people here, I wish you could have been on the bank when that suitcase came up."

About 300 were there when Detective Gray put the Medal of Honor President Lyndon Johnson gave Davis, back where it belonged.

"The reason I earned this on November 18, 1967," said Davis, "although it was in time of war, it was because of love; because I loved my brothers, because I did my job. The reason it is back around my neck today is for the same reason."

Davis admits he could get a replica or replacement medal, but he just doesn't think that is right. That is why this day is so important. "If it was not the original medal part of its soul would be missing. So I am glad to have the original back."

So are his son and daughter-in-law and plenty of others.

Sgt. Davis thanked Turner and once again offered to serve. "You get what you give. You all have given everything. I'll sweep floors for you if you need it."

Turner responded, "Mr. Davis, it's been an honor."

Mission accomplished.  Kevin Rader/Eyewitness News

July 21, 2005 - Police recover Davis' medal

Indianapolis, July 18, 2005 - The Congressional Medal of Honor awarded to Mooresville, Indiana native Sammy Davis for his heroism in Vietnam was recovered Monday. Davis reported the medal stolen from his car trunk Friday.

Indianapolis Police say they've arrested 35-year-old Gaetano Barbieri in connection to the theft of Davis' medal.

IPD Detective Ron Gray requested that the location and manner in which the medal was recovered not be revealed to protect his investigation. "I had feared that medal and what it represents had been lost," Davis told Eyewitness News Monday by phone.

Davis pleaded with the thief on Friday to return the medal, no questions asked. "When he opened the briefcase," Davis said, "he knew what it was." Davis said the medal was in a briefcase in his trunk.

Barbieri was registered at the same motel as Davis on Friday but has not been charged specifically with the theft of the medal. 

Also arrested in the case was Barbieri's companion, 31-year-old Stephanie Mitchell.

Davis will receive the medal once more in a special ceremony set for Thursday.  Rich VanWyk , Channel 13 Eyewitness News

July 2, 2005 - Guard gets new training center - Muscatatuck site will help troops

BUTLERVILLE, Ind. -- The Indiana National Guard took control of a former state mental health center yesterday with plans to turn the 68-building campus into one of the nation's largest urban warfare training centers.

The last patients were transferred this spring from the Muscatatuck State Developmental Center in Jennings County.

"It will be a place where both civilian and military organizations can set the standards, improve the skills and test the systems and concepts to defend the homeland and win the peace," said Lt. Eugene Maharry, a Guard spokesman.

About 55 people are working at the 1,000-acre Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, said Maj. Todd Harless, operations and training officer at the center about 80 miles southeast of Indianapolis.

"This is one of its kind, what we're trying to set up here," Harless said.

Soldiers who are now training for deployment to Iraq at Central Indiana's Camp Atterbury will spend time in exercises this month at the center, he said.

The Guard anticipates about 4,000 soldiers a month will go through training at the center.

At its peak in the 1960s, Muscatatuck had more than 2,300 residents. But by the time then-Gov. Frank O'Bannon announced in early 2001 that the center would close, that number had dwindled to 263 residents -- all of them mentally disabled, some autistic, some profoundly mentally retarded.

Maj. Gen. Martin Umbarger, the state's adjutant general, said that the new center will help soldiers prepare for modern warfare.

"We are not fighting in the open plains," Umbarger said. "We're fighting in urban areas."

Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman flew over the Muscatatuck center Thursday after meeting with Guard officials at Camp Atterbury.

"This site is ideally situated and ready to go," she said. "This training center will serve multiple uses." 

The National Guard plans a July 29 grand opening ceremony for the Muscatatuck center.  Louisville Courier-Journal - Louisville,KY,USA