AND THE DARKNESS GRASPED IT NOT

By Peter Vuono
   
     My son and I often talk to one another with movie references. One of my favorites is from the movie Sand Lot where Babe Ruth tells a kid"Heroes get remembered". This is certainly true  in America. We all need heroes such as Captain Chesley Sullenberger who safely flew his disabled aircraft  into the Hudson saving the lives of all on board. Or the Subway superman, Wesley Autry who, in 2007 threw his body on top of a man having a seizure saving  the man's life. Or Lenny Skutnik who dove into the icy Potomac to save a drowning woman in 1982.
    Here in Brockton, Ma. the home  of Rocky we have many unsung heroes. Two men from the Brockton High School Science Dept. come to mind. In 2011, 6'5" John Bergonzi single handedly  disarmed an assailant of a knife who was committing mayhem  or possibly  worse on another student. Later that year, Bergonzi's colleague, chemist/ coach, Phil Previte lured a fully armed student out of the cafeteria in the event he fired his weapon near students.  After looking at today's headlines it is easy to see that Sharon native Ezra Schwartz belongs in the category of hero.
    The 18 year old youth graduated from one of Boston's most prestigious private schools. Rather than harbor his gifts  to himself, he took this passion to Israel to help the people there live better lives only to be cut down by the fire power of evil. After reading about this intrepid student, I realized how history often repeats itself and how closely Ezra's life paralled that of another martyred hero, David Berger.
    Dave Berger was a native of Cleveland Ohio. Like Ezra Schwartz, he was an intelligent passionate and gifted young man. He received  a Bachelor's Degree in psychology and  Master's Degree in Business Admin from Tulane. He later received a Doctorate of Law from  Columbia. Dave was well balanced in academics and athletics. Lilke former US Olympic Gold Medal winner, Ike Berger, David excelled in Olympic lifting and won the NCAA championships while he attended Tulane. His dad once said,"He may not be the greatest weightlifter, but he will be the smartest".
   He went on to win the 1969 Maccabiah Games in Israel and came up with a dream to both open a law practice in Israel and make the Israeli olympic team. His dreams became reality and he was off to Munich in 1972.
After competition, on Sept 5, 1972, terrorists captured 11 Israeli athletes with David being one of them. Coach Moshe Weinberg was killed instantly but David's death was prolonged as he was shot in the shoulder and died from smoke inhalation from the fire set in the terrorist helicopter.  He and 10 other team mates perished that day. David was 28.
   So when I read the morning paper I marveled as to how these two men were so similar in their dreams and in their fate. They were two, young, gifted and passionate men who set out upon a dream but not just for themselves but for their two countries, America and Israel. Evil may have taken their lives but the shining star of their legacy lives on forever. "Heroes get remembered".

"In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness grasped it not"- John 1: 1-5