Veteran Day guest speaker, Major General Gill Beck (Retired) graduated from Appalachian State class of 1978 as App State’s Senior Athlete of the year and second in his class with a 3.98 grade-point average. Beck was awarded a NCAA Post-Graduate and Department of Defense scholarships, and he attended Duke University School of Law where he earned a Juris Doctorate in 1985.
Beck has spent over 25 years serving in the U.S. Army Reserves. While serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Beck represented the U.S. in litigation. Beck earned the highest Department of Justice Award, the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service award, for participation in a 1997 initiative, LABSCAM, which recovered over $186 million from laboratories defrauding the United States.
In 2006, as a result of his efforts to help build a judicial system in Iraq, Beck was awarded the Bronze Star Medal by Major General William H. Brandenburg. The medal is awarded to any person who “distinguished himself or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy; or while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.”
Mr. Beck served as the first Army Judge Advocate to command a two-star U.S. Army Reserve unit and also commanded the Army Reserve Legal Command. Over the course of his military career, Major General Beck has served the United States overseas, including in 2005 in Iraq, where he led a joint legal team prosecuting terrorists. During 2007, as an Associate Deputy General Counsel in the Office of General Counsel, Department of Defense, in the Pentagon, he provided legal advice on Iraq and Afghanistan issues in support of the surge in Iraq, and in 2008, he served as Executive Officer to the Army General Counsel, who was responsible for supervising Army attorneys throughout the world. From 2009-2011, he served as the Chief Judge (Individual Mobilization Augmentee) to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals. For his service, Major General Beck has been awarded the Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit, and numerous other awards.
Please join the Town’s Veterans Day Observance held at the Community Center, 60 Lakeshore Drive on Tuesday, November 11th at 11:00 a.m. Program provided by the Patriot Committee.
Program: Invocation and benediction by Rev. Cindy Lunsford, Salem United Methodist Church, Weaverville.
Guest speaker, Major General Beck (Retired)
Music by Asheville Senior Chorus. Rifle salute by the Weaverville Police Dept, and Taps by the Weaverville Fire Dept.
Harold Dusenbery on the bagpipes performing ‘Amazing Grace’. Free parking available at the Community Center, Outdoor Recreation lot, and Quarry Road lot.
