{"id":454135,"date":"2026-09-05T04:52:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T04:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/454135\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T04:52:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T04:52:39","slug":"long-beach-native-honored-with-civilian-service-commendation-medal-from-u-s-army-herald-community-newspapers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/454135\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach native honored with Civilian Service Commendation Medal from U.S. Army | Herald Community Newspapers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Civilian Service Commendation Medal is awarded to civilian employees of the military branches who demonstrate exceptional skills and professionalism. The Department of the Army, specifically, honors employees who are standouts at improving operations at Army garrisons \u2014 bases where troops are stationed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On July 30, the medal was presented to Mark Getman<\/a>, 54, a Long Beach native and a member of Long Beach High School\u2019s class of 1990. Getman was recognized for his efforts during the Sail4th 250 maritime commemoration at the U.S. Army garrison at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, where he has worked since January 2023. The military exhibition was part of a nationwide celebration of the country\u2019s 250th anniversary. In his role as a public affairs specialist, Getman coordinated photography, wrote news releases and worked with media representatives to ensure that the event was seamlessly documented.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did a lot of the photography, video and social media,\u201d Getman explained. \u201cThat was part of all the coordinated efforts \u2014 and providing the content and uploading it quickly to the Department of War or Department of Defense site that media [outlets] can pull from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to his posting at Fort Hamilton, Getman was a civilian employee of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy<\/a>, in Kings Point. He also spent years working with the National Guard. His cumulative professional experience earned him a five-year Federal Service Certificate, which was also presented at the award ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe always goes above and beyond whatever\u2019s expected of him, which I always appreciate,\u201d said Susan Blair, Fort Hamilton\u2019s public affairs chief and Getman\u2019s supervisor. \u201cHe\u2019s a pleasure to work with. Probably one of the nicest guys you can ever meet.\u201d She added, \u201cI always tell everybody he is probably one of the most interesting people I\u2019ve ever met. So I\u2019m very, very fortunate to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside of his government work, Getman is an ordained rabbi, and led services for nearly 10 years at Temple Emanu-El in Canarsie, Brooklyn, until it shut down in June after more than 65 years in the community. He continues to officiate events and weddings independently, and has been featured as a rabbi in television shows including \u201cOrange is the New Black\u201d and \u201cThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getman, who lives in Cedarhurst, has also stayed in touch with his Long Beach roots by regularly lacing up his figure skates and getting on the ice. \u201cMany, many years ago, when I grew up, [Long Beach] had a large figure skating school,\u201d he recounted. \u201cI stopped when I was about 17.\u201d He returned to the sport four years ago, after a friend made him aware of figure skating competitions for adults.<\/p>\n

His interest renewed, Getman got back into the rink \u2014 and placed first in his division at the Hommocks Park Ice Rink competition, in Mamaroneck, in April. He entered the Interpretive division, in which he was required to create a spontaneous routine in the moment, skating to music he was hearing for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Getman frequently returns to the City by the Sea to practice at the Ice Arena<\/a>, where he also works part-time as a skate guard to ensure a safe environment for those on the ice. The agility, in the form of spins and jumps, that competitive skating requires has kept him in top physical condition, strengthening his legs and improving his cardiovascular endurance, a creative alternative to running in the Army.<\/p>\n

More important, skating has helped him become a two-time survivor of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, with which he was diagnosed in 2014. He is currently in remission, and cites his regular exercise on the ice as part of the reason \u2014 and has even taken advantage of bursts of energy during his treatment to head to the nearest rink.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would go for my treatment and then I would go right after to practice, because I was full of the medication that pumped me up,\u201d Getman said. \u201cThat got my adrenaline going and I\u2019m like, \u2018All right, I\u2019m here. May as well.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained that being able to return to skating, as an adult and as a cancer survivor, was about prioritizing his own goals regardless of the circumstances. \u201cIt\u2019s about overcoming adversities and difficulties,\u201d he said. \u201cJust don\u2019t let it stop you from enjoying life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Civilian Service Commendation Medal is awarded to civilian employees of the military branches who demonstrate exceptional skills…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[179389,179390,131,133,179388,132,179387,179391],"class_list":["post-454135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-civilian-service-commendation-medal","tag-fort-hamilton","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-native","tag-long-beach-news","tag-mark-getman","tag-sail4th-250"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}