Arnold S. Beckerman

FAYETTEVILLE - Retired Army Command Sgt. Maj. Arnold Stanley Beckerman was born in the Bronx, N.Y., on July 6, 1929. Upon graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School, he entered military service at Fort Dix, N.J., as a basic trainee in 1947, and served during the Berlin Airlift, the Korean War and in Vietnam. He was assigned to the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 9th Infantry Divisions, Berlin Brigade and the following Airborne units - 11th and 82nd Airborne Divisions, the 8th Airborne Brigade, and as an instructor with the Airborne Department at Fort Benning, Ga. He spent slightly more than 17 years of his career overseas. His infantry assignments have been as a rifleman, recon scout, squad leader, platoon sergeant, first sergeant and battalion command sergeant major. Mr. Beckerman retired in 1978, as a command sergeant major in the 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo. In the early 60s, Mr. Beckerman attended Special Forces Branch training and operations and intelligence training at Fort Bragg. He then served as an intelligence sergeant and team sergeant of an Operational Detachment Alpha, and an intelligence sergeant of both an Operational Detachment-Bravo and Office of Defense Cooperation in the 10th Special Forces Group. He was assigned to the 6th Special Forces Group as a B and C detachment sergeant major, and with the 5th Special Forces Group, both in Republic of Vietnam and at Fort Bragg as the sergeant major of a B detachment, a C detachment, Special Forces Battalion (3/5th), and finally, as the command sergeant major, 5th Special Forces Group. Mr. Beckerman's 18-year civil service career included positions as chief, Reserve Affairs at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colo.; training specialist at Headquarters, 2nd U.S. Army, Atlanta; and as an intelligence specialist at U.S. Army John Fitzgerald Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School and U.S. Army Special Operations Command Headquarters with Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, DCD-JMA, and DCSRI. He has attended numerous military schools and has received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Business Administration degrees from Trinity University. His awards and decorations include the Combat Infantry Badge; Legion of Merit; Bronze Star Medal; Air Medal; Purple Heart; and Special Forces Tab. He holds several foreign awards to include: Vietnamese and German parachute wings and the German Military Efficiency Badge in Bronze. A funeral service will be held on Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, at 2 p.m. at JFK Chapel, Fort Bragg. Burial will take place in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., with full military honors at a later date. The family will receive friends at a visitation at Adcock Funeral Home & Crematory in Spring Lake today, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. Mr. Beckerman is survived by his spouse, Rebecca Munoz; two children, Lt. Col. William Beckerman and Barbara Beckerman; and three granddaughters, Mattie, Rachel and Emma.