From South Africa to the US Army to Skydiving: A Veteran's Journey

Written By: Harry Berning

I was born in Somerset West, South Africa in October of 1984. Ever since I was born I always was retold stories about my father, my uncle and my grandfather in regards to their time in the South African Army and since I was a young boy I wanted to follow in their footsteps in the military. During the transitioning years of South Africa from the old apartheid government to the new South Africa my parents were uncertain of the direction of the country and used their life savings to bring my brother, sister and I to America. After arriving here in the states I still had dreams of following in my families footsteps and pursuing a career in the military but now I realized I had a chance of not only serving in the strongest fighting force in the world but to earn my citizenship and stay in the US. While in high school, soon after we arrived, all my friends were taking their SAT’s and searching for a college to attend. I was the black sheep in a way and had no desire to pursue college and wanted to enlist in the military after high school and make the Army my career. So thats what I did. I enlisted in the US army and signed up for a “high risk unit” which payed more but in my mind would be what I was searching for. I completed bootcamp and was sent to Ft. Riley, KS to join the 1/28th Infantry “Black Lions.”

I trained with my unit for a year and then just before my unit was going to be deployed to Iraq on our first tour overseas I fractured my shin during training. It was a recurring and frustrating injury that I had to deal with and the medics on base told me I couldn’t deploy with my unit overseas, ultimately resulting in my medical discharge from the service. I was at a loss and heart broken as my childhood dreams came to an end. I made the long drive home from base and after arriving home I received an email a few weeks later from my buddy Rivera stating that my Humvee I was assigned to had been hit by a road side bomb and I had lost some brothers of mine in the explosion. I should have been in that Humvee. I was confused and lost after my discharge and especially after receiving that news.

I never had a plan B after my military service, so after my discharge I went from job to job trying to find what it was that I was interested in and had a passion for. I couldn’t just work any 9 to 5, I had to be in a line of work that I was passionate about. I worked as a lineman in Northern Virginia for a year, missionary to Juarez Mexico to build orphanages, then managed an entertainment company, then worked as an envelope press operator, then an EMT and Fire fighter in Rockville Maryland, then got a job working security for financial offices in DC, then at a warehouse in PA. Soon after my discharge, a friend of mine invited me on a skydive in Ocean City, Maryland. I had always had an interest to go on a skydive but knew nothing about it. I brought friends on tandem skydives with me for 5 years after and then one day a friend of mine I brought told me he found out you could actually get licensed and do it recreationally. One day while working at the warehouse in PA I was at an all time low. I was in a relationship with a girl that was ruining me, working a job I had no interest in, and living in a small town in Carlisle PA where I had no friends and family. So one day I had had enough and instead of taking my life as I had fantasied about regularly, I quit my job, sold everything I had, left my girlfriend and lived in a tent close to the skydive airport for 10 months. During that time I told them that I wanted to do this and devote everything I had to it. The folks there at the skydive airport brought me into the family, taught me how to pack parachutes and eventually they rented me out a room on the airport to stay in and trained me to be a skydive coach.

While I lived on that airport I met Chris Derbak who came on board after I started there and we become close friends, even had to bail from a plane one day together after the plane lost its engines on the way to altitude. After a few years working at Skydive Chambersburg I was offered a job to join the indoor-skydiving center, iFly, in the states. I left Chambersburg and moved around the country coaching and teaching skydiving at the indoor wind tunnels. I created and wrote a kids program that I piloted for ifly and my 10 and 12 year old kids teams one the US nationals which opened doors for me to relocate and continue to grow the youth leagues at other wind tunnels. I transferred to Ft Lauderdale in 2018 and thats when things went south for me and became a dark chapter in my life. I got engaged to a girl in 2020 for all the wrong reasons and when things went bad I left her and had to live in the back seat of my car for 4 months while I searched for my next step. I ended up coming back to Maryland from Florida to be closer to family and friends and then one night I was sitting in a CVS parking lot and called Chris

who I knew was also a veteran. I told him how I had a vision for doing an event for veterans at a skydive airport in Florida and it never came to fruition. I asked him if he could help me organize something in Maryland for veterans. He reminded me that he had piloted the Jump for Valor organization, which was a non profit to help better the lives of transitioning vets through the sport, family and community of skydiving. He invited me to join the team, made me the Public Outreach Manager for Jump for Valor and asked for any help I could offer for an event they were hosting for Veterans Day weekend at Skydive Chesapeake. I was taken back and of course enthusiastically accepted the offer.

A few days later a post was put on facebook with Chris and I. I received a call from my friend Duane that was in my unit and was in the same IED explosion that killed some of my battle buddies and Duane lost his leg to the explosion. He asked how I knew Chris! I asked how he knew Chris! And to my amazement 2 years earlier Duane, my good friend from my unit that I had not seen since the Army 13 years prior, connected with my good friend Chris, and he was the first veteran ever to be sponsored and make his way through the Jump for Valor program to became licensed skydiver. When the Jump for Valor event happened at Skydive Chesapeake it was the first time I had seen Duane since the Army and it was more than a special sobering moment for us. It was far from a coincidence and shed light for all of us who are a part of Jump for Valor, that this is more than just skydiving but this is a family and unique support system that all other therapies fall far short of. I have battled with depression and suicidal tendencies over many years but skydiving was the only thing that brought me out of that hole I often found myself in and gave me a sense of purpose, commradery and support that I found while serving the military but something that the VA and other organizations couldn’t quite match. That evening when I saw Duane again, we honored him with a plaque to recognize him for making it through the program and welcoming him to the family. It was an emotional evening. We cried on each others shoulders and spoke of how amazing skydiving and the family that comes along with it cannot match anything we have found and searched for else where. That is why Jump for Valor is not only unique but a powerful tool to help veterans who feel there is no light at the end of the tunnel and unsure what the next step in life is for them.