JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Three million members of the United States military have served since Sept. 11, 2001. Of those, according to the Department of Defense, 800,000 did combat duty in Afghanistan.
Since the nation went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 7,000 American lives that were lost in the “war on terror.” Of those is one most precious to Maggie Beckerman, who lives in Middleburg.
She’s an Army veteran and a Gold Star spouse. Her husband, Michael, was killed in action.
“There’s certain memories you can’t blur out at all,” Beckerman said as she recalled the terror attacks on 9/11.
At the time, she was a ninth-grader, and that moment, the images that depict the events of that day moved her to join America’s military.
“There was that desire afterwards to serve, to do what you can for our nation and you don’t quite know what it’s going to be,” she said.
In 2006, she enlisted in the Army.
“I’ll be honest,” Beckerman said. “I didn’t know what I was getting into.”
She earned the rank of supply sergeant and was deployed three times to the Middle East.
Along the way, she met another soldier -- the man who later became her husband. She described him as a go-getter.
So, what’s it like to be married to someone who also serves?
“It was rewarding to have someone, have that same professionalism, where you have a mission you need to get something done or you have a task. OK, let’s go get it. OK, what do you need to get done. OK, what do you -- do you need help? And you respect that individual in the sense that they have something they need to take care of,” Beckerman said.
They were married and kept serving. Both deployed to Afghanistan in 2009-10.
Among her duties, to take part in a ramp ceremony for those killed in action.
“You think about what were their thoughts. And you try to honor them by remaining proud stoic and professional. And there’s a gut feeling of, just, let’s get the mission done,” Beckerman said.
On the last day of 2010, Beckerman’s battalion commander had a message for her.
She worried a battle buddy with children was being notified. She didn’t see it coming.
“I was like, this is a Red Cross message. So, I said a prayer, ‘Give her the strength for what she needs to get done, and help her through this. This is not going to be easy.’ And when I walked inside. I walked inside, my first sergeant told me to ‘come into my commander’s office.’ That’s when I found out,” Beckerman said.
Sgt. Michael Beckerman had given his life for his country. He was killed by an improvised explosive device inside a building.
“Michael did what he loved and he protected those that he cared for,” his widow said.
The explosion took his life and changed hers forever.
“My very last ramp ceremony was actually my husband’s, and I was a part of it in a different way,” she said. “I was actually following his following his casket from behind.”
In the months that followed, Maggie Beckerman realized she needed to transition back to civilian life. She also found a way to cope with her loss and contribute to other warriors.
Beckerman found K-9 Line, which trains a veteran’s pet to be their support animal.
Her companion is Gunter, and he’s been a lifesaver.
Now, Maggie Beckerman is back to offering all she has to others, taking a leadership role with K-9 Line.
“And now, being the president of this organization, there’s not just pride, but there’s that ability to continue serving, to continue with that camaraderie with other people that have that same mindset,” she said.
Maggie Beckerman – for her own sake and to honor her husband – is applying what she learned in the Army.
“You never give up. You never accept defeat. You never quit,” she said. “You never leave a fallen comrade. And that follows you. And I can do that with K9 Line right now.”