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STORIES

Tom Berg

Veteran

Tom Berg
MY connection to 9/11

  • I was serving in the military on 9/11

Where were you when you first heard about or saw the 9/11 terrorist attacks?

I was a reserve JAG on my way to civilian court in Brazoria County, a rural area near Houston. I heard about the attack on my car radio. By the time I arrived at the courthouse, it had been closed and everything was shut down. No crop-dusters, no traffic, just an eerie quiet.

How did the events of that day shape your life and inspire your service to this country?

I returned to my Houston office and began making preparations with my colleagues and my family for the mobilization I expected to come. I was recalled to active duty before Christmas, and served at the Pentagon and then Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, establishing the military commissions and detainee operations at Camp X-Ray. Later I deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq doing civil affairs and legal work with the coalitions there. I retired in 2012 as a colonel after one last mobilization to temporarily fill a vacancy on the Army Court of Criminal Appeals at Fort Belvoir.

What are you excited to contribute to your community, however you define it, for the next 20 years?

Not sure that at my age I have 20 years left in the tank but I still practice law and am running for a criminal court bench here in Houston. I am still motivated to serve.

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