2,996 - I Remember Max Beilke, MSG, US Army (Retired)

This tribute will remain on top until September 15, 2006.
 

A Tribute to the victims of 9/11.

We will honor them by remembering their lives,
and not by remembering their murderers.

2,996 stories…
2,996 voices…
2,996 remembered…

MAX BEILKE
Master Sergeant, US Army (Retired)
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: November 1, 1954 - November 1, 1974

DATE OF BIRTH: July 24, 1932
DATE OF DEATH: September 11, 2001
DATE OF INTERMENT: December 11, 2001
BURIED AT: Arlington National Cemetery - SECTION 64 - SITE 4639

Max was the Deputy Chief of the Retirement Services Division, which is part of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel (Department of the Army). He was in a meeting with Lieuenant General Timothy Maude and retired Lieutenant Colonel Gary Smith at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, when a hijacked jet piloted by terrorists hit the outer ring of the building. The three men and 71 other personnel were killed.

Max was the voice of Veterans and Veteran’s issues. He was a voice for Army retirees, their spouses, and their survivors.

Max was a friend to all who knew him and those that never met him.

Max was my friend. I am one of those that never met him.

Max, 69, was a native of Pipestone, Minnesota. He was drafted during the Korean War and stayed in the Army until his retirement in 1974. After his retirment he started his second career as a civil servant. During his 22 years on active duty, he served in Korea, Germany, and Vietnam.

It was his tour in Vietnam during 1972 and 1973 that brought him a unique place in the history of our long struggle there.

Max was the last U.S. Army Combat Soldier to leave Vietnam. Ironically, he was among the first to be declared missing at the start of a new war.

The date was was March 29, 1973. The place was Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Saigon. He was a tall, husky man with an open Midwestern face. He was last in the line moving up the ramp into a waiting C-130. He was about to step into history. Master Sergeant Max Beilke was officially designated as the last American Combat Soldier to leave Vietnam.

As Max started up the ramp, a North Vietnamese colonel stepped forward and presented him with a gift — a straw place mat decorated with the picture of a pagoda. According to accounts at the time, he looked down at the Colonel, accepted the gift and went on up the ramp.

Max told an interviewer years later:

“March 29 always sticks with me. There are certain things — like your wedding anniversary, the day you came into the Army, the first time I left the country and shipped out for Korea in ‘53 — you remember those dates.”

In 1984, Max returned to the Army as a civilian employee where he focused on the problems of Vietnam War Veterans. He felt that when we brought these young men out of Vietnam and discharged them from the Army, they had lost their support group. He felt that when they went out into civilian life, and in some places a very hostile civilian life, it was tough for them to cope. “That is what Max was there for. He traveled all across the country urging veterans to get help.

I said that Max was my friend.

I also said that I never met him.

When I worked in tha Casualty Office at Fort Lewis, I came across an email from our Retirement Services Officer. The Subject was “Max Facts.”

The body of the email was 2 to 3 pages of short snippets, sort of like jotting down notes, on various topics, Retirement, pay benefits, Veterans Affairs issues, the DD 214 (Military Discharge document), to name a few. Along the way there was some humor.

I sent an email to Max and asked to be included on his distribution list. For almost 2 years, I received these weekly “Facts” and thouroghly enjoyed reading them. I often emailed him back if I wanted more information on one of his topics and always received an answer. I felt that I got to know Max Beilke for the person he was. He was an advocate for Army retirees and their Spouses. He was an advocate for Retiree survivors. His true calling was advocating and speaking for ALL Veterans and their rights. He was always there trying to make sure that the Veteran knew where and how to get assistance.

It is my loss that I never met Max Beilke. However, in reading and exchanging emails with him, I grew to know him and I call him a friend.

Max. Thank you for your service, as a Soldier and as a Department of the Army Civilian. Thank you for your tireless efforts in thinking of and assisting Veterans everywhere. May God Bless and Keep You. May he shine his light on those you left behind.

Hooah!! Max.

Respectfully,

Your friend.

David R Harper
Sergeant Major, US Army (Retired)
 
Sources:
Max Beilke, Master Sergeant, United States Army
The Washington Post — Remembering: The Pentagon Victims

18 Comments

1. David,
   Thank you so much for giving us a glimpse of this good man, this American hero!

   Comment by Anna — September 10, 2006 @ 3:09 pm | Edit This

2. Daphne Ferlinda Elder

   This post will remain at the top. Please scroll down for new posts.

   Loving, beautiful, happy, proud, strong, intelligent and classy. Just a handful of words that describe a 36-year-old woman whose life was taken on September 11, 2001.
   Daphne Ferlinda …

   Trackback by A Rose By Any Other Name — September 10, 2006 @ 3:11 pm | Edit This

3. […] rm Room Blue Star Chronicles Urban Scrawl You Betcha I’m a Proud Army Mom Texas Fred Echo9er
   Published in: Photographs 9/11 on September 10, 2006 at 10:51 am

   The URI to T […]

   Pingback by Once Upon A Time « A Rose By Any Other Name — September 10, 2006 @ 3:15 pm | Edit This

4. Thank you so much for sharing Max’s story and sharing your own. I don’t think the tears will ever dry. I will think of Max tomorrow.

   I honored Michael Haub, FDNY.

   Thank you…

   Comment by Jacqulyn — September 10, 2006 @ 3:18 pm | Edit This

5. Davis Grier “Deeg” Sezna, Jr.

   How does a parent deal with a loss of a child and how in world could they get through the loss of another child? This is what Davis and Gail Sezna of Delaware had to deal with, in just a 14 month span. Their first loss came in July of 2000 when their …

   Trackback by A Rose By Any Other Name — September 10, 2006 @ 8:41 pm | Edit This

6. This is a beautiful tribute!

   We lost so many precious souls that day - so personnal to so many. I’m sorry you lost your friend.

   Please visit my tribute to Major Dwayne Williams, also killed at the Pentagon that day.

   Comment by FlagGazer — September 10, 2006 @ 11:10 pm | Edit This

7. Written as only David Harper could! I remember early on discovering the 2996 tribute at your site before anyone knew about it. I’ve been thinking about the fact that you mentioned requesting a friend. MSG Beilke is smiling today.

   Comment by chrys — September 11, 2006 @ 1:50 am | Edit This

8. A wonderful tribute . . . thanks for sharing the memories of your friend.

   Comment by Rob Purdie — September 11, 2006 @ 6:34 am | Edit This

9. What a beautiful tribute. I feel I have met so many new people without even meeting them.
   Thank you for visiting my site.
   http://kapoelevi.spaces.live

   Comment by Annie — September 11, 2006 @ 9:56 am | Edit This

10. David,

    Thank you for your tribute to Max. I knew Max - he was a founding member our church (Columbia Presbyterian Church). Max was a leading member of our congregation. I remember him as a big, friendly man of wisdom. While we still miss him, we have comfort in knowing he is in the presence of God.

    Comment by MikeM — September 11, 2006 @ 3:27 pm | Edit This

11. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful tribute to Max.

    Comment by Jennifer Sizemore — September 11, 2006 @ 5:36 pm | Edit This

12. Remembering 9-11

    I will be adding more accounts of the day as I find them.

    Trackback by Fuzzilicious Thinking — September 11, 2006 @ 7:52 pm | Edit This

13. What a wonderful tribute to your friend Max. Those who serve our country so we may live in freedom have earned a special place in heaven. He sounds like a wonderful man, a credit to the USA, his family, his friends and his church. We will never forget.
    I wrote a tribute to Catherine A. Nardella who died at the WTC on 9/11.

    Comment by MrsGreenThumb — September 11, 2006 @ 8:06 pm | Edit This

14. That every name, every face, every soul, every heartbeat should be made one. In the face of the tragedy we all lived through, it is the only prayer I have. Your tribute brings one more name, one more face, one more soul, one more heartbeat into the circle, and we keep living, not inspite of 9/11, but because of those who gave all.

    Thank you for your piece of the puzzle.

    Cindi
    I proudly honored Jay Robert Magazine and Mark Bingham on my blog.

    Comment by Cindi — September 12, 2006 @ 3:01 pm | Edit This

15. This is a very cool tribute to Max. Thank for sharing.

    My tribute is at jonathonscloset.blogspot.com

    Jonathon, age 13

    Comment by Jonathon — September 12, 2006 @ 3:33 pm | Edit This

16. Wonderful tribute. Thank you.

    What amazing men and women perished that day.

    I linked your tribute at 2996 tribute to victims of 9/11 - Terrence E Adderley

    Comment by bernie — September 12, 2006 @ 10:07 pm | Edit This

17. 2996 tribute to victims of 9/11 - Terrence E Adder

    Before 9/11 the only view I had of the New York City skyline was from the top floor of my home in New Jersey. On any day I could look out the window and see the upper 30 floors of the World Trade Center.

    When both buildings disappeared from view t…

    Trackback by Planck's Constant — September 12, 2006 @ 10:08 pm | Edit This

18. Excellent tribute for a wonderful man…

    The whole concept of the 2996 tribute was brilliant… each one of the tributes I have read have been Excellent…

    Comment by shayna — September 13, 2006 @ 4:44 pm | Edit This

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