the 1972 Olympics

  David Berger's parents did not make the trip to Germany to watch their son compete in the Olympics, but his sister and brother, Barbara and Fred, did.
  They remember going to the Olympic Village to visit with David and his teammates. Barbara recalls wearing David's Israeli team jacket when she watched
  him compete. David did not expect that he would win a medal, and he did not. He simply wanted to participate in an Olympics representing Israel, in an
  environment where peace and acceptance superseded all else. ''It was very exciting being there,'' said Barbara. ''This is what David spent his life trying to do.''

  Early on September 5, 1972, at about 4:30 a.m., eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists. Berger
  attempted to stop the intruders, urging his teammates in Hebrew to jump the terrorists together, because they had nothing to lose.

  David Berger’s brother Fred and sister Barbara were backpacking through Europe. The U.S. government placed a special radio alert to locate the Berger
  siblings, who were flown back to Cleveland aboard a military plane in time for the funeral and to be reunited with their parents.

  David’s body was returned to the United States per request from his parents to President Nixon by phone, on an Air Force jet personally ordered by the
  president. A United States Air Force C-141A StarLifter was dispatched to bring his body home for burial before the Sabbath, as required by Orthodox law.
  As the funeral procession proceeded to his burial, the streets were lined with people paying tribute, many with their hats off, many crying. Rabbi Lelyveld
  presided at the funeral, which took place Friday morning. An estimated 1,000 mourners attended. He praised the Berger family for “setting an example of
  restraint for all of us.” All Ohio state flags were at half-staff the week after, in David's memory.

  President Richard Nixon, in a telegram, asked that the rest of the Games be called off. The Olympic officials responded by declaring a half-day halt to the
  games, and held a memorial service in the Munich stadium.

  David’s father never viewed the tragedy as an end - either of his son's memory or of the Olympic Games - but as what he hoped was a beginning of peace
  and understanding. And for Dr. Berger, there is one consolation: “He [David] considered competing in the Olympics as a weightlifter was the absolute ultimate
  that he could achieve. …if David knew, that things would end the same way, he would have followed the same path.”

  David’s niece, speaking at the rededication of the David Berger National Memorial, said her uncle believed that sports are more about peace and camaraderie
  than about beating the other guy. Sports are "where people come together to find a common playing field and break down social barriers. That's why David
  went to Munich.”

  The International Olympic Committee [the IOC] still has not publicly recognized the slain athletes, and Dr. Berger continues to write them every year, asking
  simply for a commemorative moment of silence.

  "I'd like to see them [the IOC] acknowledge that this occurred," said Dr. Berger. "There should be a moment of silence, not just for those athletes, but for all
  victims of terrorism."