One in a Million....

....this was written by Don Bergman, Matt's uncle.

"Last night I was talking with my daughter Rachel about my nephew Matt. Matt was reported missing at sea while serving in the Navy yesterday. In the conversation we were remembering a recent visit when Matt was here with his family. We all went to the Pumpkin Festival together.

At the pumpkin festival we watched a game in which a giant slingshot was used to catapult miniature pumpkins to try to get them in a bushel basket that floated in the middle of the pond. There was a pretty girl supervising and taking money that bought three shots. We all watched as many people lofted the miniature pumpkins through the air and missed the target. It seemed impossible to have one land in the bushel basket.

Matt decided he wanted to win more than the fame and glory that would come with landing a pumpkin in the middle of the bushel basket. He wanted to win a kiss from the pretty girl. As he paid for the chance he asked the girl if he could have a kiss if he hit the target. She seemed flattered and smiled shyly. Matt stepped up to the slingshot that was mounted in the ground, did some quick mental calculations and let the pumpkin fly. His aim was true and the pumpkin landed squarely in the basket.

I remember Matt's huge smile as he turned to the girl for his prize. Her face instantly turned bright red.

Rachel commented, "That shot was one in a million. But you know that with Matt it seemed like everything was one in a million".

One in a million describes Matt perfectly. As a young boy of 5 or 6 he added up the prices of food in his head in the back seat of the minivan while his Dad ordered in the drive through at McDonald's. He could give you the square root of any 4 digit number to several decimal places after a short calculation in his head as a boy. He was a genius with a natural gifting in the area of language. He decided to join the US Navy and learned Farsi in their school while amazing the instructors by his ability to go through the class without having to study.

His heart was as big as his mind was sharp. He always had a big smile on his face and had an excitement for life. He loved adventure. He was so proud that he was serving his country in the Navy. My grandfather has a wall in his house with pictures of the men in our family that have served in the military. Matt was so proud and excited after he made it through boot camp because he could have his picture on Grandpa's Wall.

It seems that now that Matt has a one in a million shot as our Navy have been looking for him for more than 36 hrs. I am thankful that our fighting forces don't give up easily and don't leave a man on the battlefield. We can still hope and pray that Matt comes through this.

Matthew Bergman - I am proud of you. You are One in a Million and I will never forget you.