Mark Becker, JD
April 2026
We continue to meet at the Erie Yacht Club. We are back upstairs! Meetings begin at 6:00 pm with a social hour and dinner, followed by our program/speaker.Our Dinner Menu:
To be decided.Our Guest Speaker:
Mark Becker, JDMark Becker, returns this evening, having previously presented to the Torch Group. He is an Erie native who enlisted in the Army in 1975 before gaining admittance to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point - where he amassed 504 demerits in his 3 years, 10 months, and 22 days as a cadet. Upon graduation he served in command and staff positions in Explosive Ordnance Disposal (bomb disposal) and Special Forces (Green Beret) organizations where he learned Russian and planned for operations against the military forces of the former Soviet Union. He's a graduate of numerous military schools and is the recipient of numerous merit and service awards and decorations including the Bronze Star Medal earned during his several deployments to Afghanistan while serving on the National Mission Force.
Following his military career, Mark worked as a federal employee, overseeing research and development programs charged with developing energetics solutions, i.e. explosives, for Special Operations Forces.
He has a law degree from the Wake Forest University School of Law and took and passed the North Carolina and Florida bar exams.
Topic:
For reservations; please E-Mail the Torch Club Secretary at secretary.erietorch@gmail.com.
The Panama Canal
"The Panama Canal"
Any account of engineering marvels of the 20th Century would be incomplete without the inclusion of the Panama Canal, the 51-mile passage that dramatically transformed global trade routes when it opened in 1914. After famed French diplomat Ferdinand De Lesseps failed in his attempt in the 1880s, the United States re-started construction in 1904.
Battling tropical diseases and incredible topographic challenges, the Army Corps of Engineers carved the canal through jungles and mountainous terrain, displacing enough earth and rubble to bury the island of Manhattan to a depth of 12 feet. At the cost of roughly 5,000 workers' lives, the ship channel was completed on time and on budget.
Kindly join us on Wednesday, 1 April, as return lecturer Mark Becker guides us through the 400-year odyssey to physically bisect the hemisphere.
Please join us on April 1st, 2026 at 6:00 pm, for our pre-dinner cocktail and chat time and remember to bring your friends and acquaintances. Reservations are required.
Please remember to make your reservation at secretary.erietorch@gmail.com.