Tia Bergeron: A Confident Combat Veteran

Tia grew up in a small town in New Hampshire with a single mom who worked most nights as a country singer. Tia became very independent at a young age and helped take care of her sister who is 4 years younger. She explained that her family’s struggle growing up played a role in her wanting to make a strong name for herself. She excelled in school and was named salutatorian of her graduating high school class. She had always been interested in criminal justice but knew at the time, in 1986, females were not prevalent in law enforcement or the military. Both of her grandfathers were WWII Veterans and she developed a big connection with them due to a variety of conversations they had through the years. She decided at the age of 18 to overcome the statistics and join the military.

Tia’s goal was to be in the military police. Not only did she hold herself to that standard, but she also made sure to tell her recruiter “I’m going to be an MP or I’m not in the military at all.” The first obstacle she had to face was how small she was and her height just barely qualified. Tia shook her head as she informed me what everyone would constantly ask her: “Why are you going into the army? You’re so smart… why would you want to go and do that?” and she, of course, would respond with “because I want this experience, this is what I WANT to do!”

Sure enough, Tia was able to begin her journey by taking a semester off and going straight into basic training. She attended 17 weeks in the blazing heat in Alabama. She was in the reserves and performed drills for a few years until she was called to active duty. She told me when she finally got the signal, “Red Bull,” all she could think was, “It’s go time!” She admitted that although she was scared, she was even more focused. She felt fully prepared and ready to do her job as part of the Desert Storm Military Police.

It was December of 1990 and they landed in Saudi Arabia in MOPP (Mission Oriented Protective Posture) gear feeling all 100 degrees beating down on them. She explained, “As soon as I hopped off the plane, we immediately ran for cover in a ditch while carrying our ridiculously heavy bags. The Scud missiles were going off left and right and all you can think is, okay, I’m here, this is it, I might die, but I have to just embrace it.” Tia is considered a combat veteran of Desert Storm because her platoon permanently resided in the middle of the chaos, right where the Scuds went off, and the patriot missiles took off to intersect them.

When I asked Tia what it was like being one of the only women in her unit as a military police officer, she laughed and replied, “It was definitely different.” She lucked into being assigned to all of the special detail missions because there was a female needed as a witness on most of the calls. This fact allowed her to have even more interesting experiences such as being assigned to General Vuono’s personal security team, getting to drive his Humvee motorcade, and getting to enter one of the M-1 Abram tanks as well as one of the Stealth bombers. She was also blessed to have been able to make connections with the women of Saudi Arabia who would not have felt comfortable coming to the men in the military. Being a woman allowed Tia to break some of these barriers which gave her the opportunity to comfort these women when they were crying and asking, “When will the bombing stop?”

She was fortunate to have a Sergeant who was protective of her. She assured me that she did not take offense to this, as it was much better than the normal reaction from the other males she worked with that approached her in a “what are you even doing here?” kind of way. Luckily for Tia’s commitment and courageous attitude, she eventually gained the respect from her peers that she well-deserved.

She went on to tell me a story about the way she was treated by the Saudi Arabians while deployed. She informed me that they have certain police who make sure that everyone has stopped their jobs by a certain time because that’s when everyone was supposed to pause their day to pray. Well, one of these police came up to her and told her she needed to get in the front seat of the Humvee. She thought to herself I’m over here fighting for you, and you’re going to demean me? but just firmly replied with “I’m sitting here with an M16, a 45, and an M60 on top of our Humvee, no sir, I’m not moving. This is my job to be here!” They did not like her response, but can you hear that devoted attitude I was telling you about? Her sergeant caught wind of this and warned her “please do not start an international incident.” I would also like to add that Tia gathered even more army medals than her stateside 1st sergeant had earned.

Tia made cassette tapes every day she was deployed to send back to her family in the states and her grandmother wrote her letters every single day which meant the absolute world to Tia. To receive just a little piece of home while she was there was everything because, at that point, she just assumed any day could be her last. She told me about the scariest day she was there which was the day one of the Scuds actually hit near them and her unit was called to respond to the wreckage. She looked at me with wide eyes and said, “talk about chaos, that was THE most horrific thing I’d seen.” She had to rummage through the remnants of her fellow troops while trying to collect their dog tags, which left her feeling completely heartbroken. It was even more terrifying for her to think about the fact that their roles could have easily been reversed had the Scuds landed a little closer to them instead.

She explained that coming home was extremely emotional. She said, “to go from that climate to this, it was a whole other planet.” Her mom was waiting for her along with an extraordinary number of patrons to welcome them home. Every single veteran was granted their own personal American flag with their name attached. To this day, she still feels incredibly thankful for all the support they received from the people of this country.

Tia stayed with the military for 10 years, but once she returned home in 1993, she only had a few more years left. During that time, she continued training and attended camps closer to home in places like Canada, where she had to have her wisdom teeth taken out in the middle of the field. She also spent some time working in the criminal investigation unit in Boston and completed her degree from the University of New Hampshire where she graduated with a history degree and a minor in psychology.

After her time in the military, she started a job with the New Hampshire Athletic Association and was the Associate Director for 15 years. She met her husband, Chris, during this time because he was an Athletic Director at a big school. They got married in 2007 and a few years later found themselves wanting a change, plus they were tired of the snow- we all get that! They vacationed in Pawleys Island over the years to see Chris’ parents, who have lived here for 10 years. In 2012 they moved to the beach. Chris is now the Physical Education instructor at Waccamaw Middle School as well as the varsity lacrosse coach and the JV football coach. Tia works for the Coastal Montessori Charter school part-time as the business manager. A year and a half ago she earned her real estate license and says that is her next direction of life. She works for the Litchfield Company and enjoys the flexibility it gives her to be able to enjoy the area they now live in. She admires the fact that she gets to meet new people and build more relationships.

When Tia thinks back on her time in the military, she is overwhelmed with compassion, especially around Thanksgiving and the holidays. While she was deployed, holidays were not celebrated and felt just like any other day, which makes Tia appreciate these times at home even more. She justifies that even though we have our problems and lots of unrest currently in America, it’s still not nearly as rough as what she had experienced elsewhere. She explained, “At least here, I’m able to drive, speak, have my own opinions, and not wake up to the sound of sirens every day.”

She could not be more content with the person she grew into due to the military. It gave her thick, tough skin and has made her unafraid of life’s twists and turns because she knows she’s survived worse. She doesn’t regret anything and has continued to keep her high-energy, thankful spirit. She adds, “I can watch the sunrise and the sunset every day if I want, what’s not to love and feel humbly grateful for when you live here?”