Veteran Recommendation
My good friend Cathy Avagliano, a friend to all Veterans, happened to meet Paul Berkowitz, who was wearing his Vietnam Veterans cap.

This prompted a short chat with him and a recommendation that I interview him. Paul and I recently met at Valencia’s Corner Bakery for several hours while reviewing his unique U.S. Army service and his life experiences.

Work Ethics
Paul Berkowitz was born March 7, 1944 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, where he lived until age 12 when his family moved to Dayton, Ohio for three years and then to West Los Angeles.  

Paul graduated from Hamilton High School on June 15, 1962, where he played Junior Varsity baseball and served as drum major during his senior year.  

Paul also worked part-time during high school for Mortuary Management Magazine where he learned to operate their printing press, printing processes, use of colors, etc.  

“I essentially learned life long skills at an early age while gaining a strong work ethic,” said Paul.

You’re in the Army Now

Following high school graduation and continuing to retain his military draft deferment status, Paul attended UCLA where he earned his Bachelor Degree in Theatre Arts and his Masters of Fine Arts in Film and Television.

Paul Berkowitz on the job

The Vietnam War dramatically heated up during Paul’s college years and upon his graduation, his deferment was changed from II-S to I-A meaning that he was subject to the draft.  

In the summer of 1966, Paul astutely joined ROTC and took the equivalent of basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and another similar course at Fort Lewis, Washington.  

Upon going to active duty on July 11, 1968, Paul was commissioned to 2nd Lieutenant and was assigned to Basic Officer Signal Training at Fort Gordon’s Signal School.  

Afterwards, he was sent to photo school at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey for two months where he learned everything possible about Army cameras. Once he completed photo school, Paul went on to service the Army’s Pictorial Center at Astoria Studio in Queens, New York, as previously planned.

Meeting Amy

Back in high school, Paul was attracted to his future wife Amy Wolfson in their Spanish class.

Paul Berkowitz & Amy Dancing – Wedding July 1965

They began dating, which carried through their college years culminating in marriage on July 11, 1965.  

They tied the knot at Temple Isaiah in West Los Angeles and Paul, being a UCLA teaching assistant, enabled them to live in the married student housing program.  

While Paul attended the Army’s Signal and photo schools, Amy joined him. Later, while serving in Vietnam, Amy met him in Honolulu, Hawaii during his week-long memorable Rest and Recuperation (R & R) leave of absence.

The Big Picture
Working for six months at the Army’s Pictorial Center on the Army’s long running television series, “The Big Picture,” was a blessing and proved a life-changing experience as he produced one fine episode, “What Makes a Modern Army.”

Winning Hearts & Minds Sept 1969

This episode was a complicated video created from a vast collection of existing Army 16MM color footage. In July 1969, Paul was deployed to Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant.  

Within one hour of arrival, Paul enjoyed a scrumptious steak dinner with all the beer he could drink while watching a movie via a projector and a screen leading Paul to muse, “Life in the Nam ain’t so bad.”

Meritorious Service
Two days later, Paul flew alone via a Caribou transport plane to Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut Airport and then traveled to nearby Long Binh arriving as a replacement with the 221st Signal Company, 1st Signal Brigade.  

He would work as a videographer and still photographer assigned to the Southeast Asia Pictorial Center, which was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation award for its work between July 1969 and March 1970.   

Meritorious Unit Citation

Paul and his fellow soldiers made significant contributions collecting exceptional pictorial documentation from all over South Vietnam’s ravaged war zones, which were used for news media, training and historical purposes.  

He produced a film that illustrated activities of U.S. Army auditors, which earned him an Army Commendation Medal.  

His specialty was shooting aerial video footage and with his fabricated press card, he and his pals were like free range chickens as that card enabled them to catch Huey helicopters wherever there was combat action.  

At times, it was plenty dangerous work. Paul recalls his horror shortly after his return to America when one of his unit’s Huey helicopters was shot down losing five brave soldiers from his former unit. Four crew members also perished.

Infuriating Protestors
After eight months in-country, Paul’s parents were seriously injured in a horrible automobile accident in March 1970 leading his superiors to grant him an emergency leave of absence to return home.  

Paul Berkowitz Unit Crest

He was then assigned to Fort MacArthur for two months and was honorably discharged on May 26, 1970.  

“When I returned back to America, Amy said she never wanted people to know that I was serving in Vietnam because of the hurtful and infuriating anti-war protesters. Her memories of those days remain as vivid as ever,” he said.

Undaunted, Paul focused on achieving his American Dream and soon he found employment with Cal Arts when it first opened in Burbank in September 1970 continuing with them when their Valencia campus opened in 1971.  

Paul was Cal Arts’ Film Production Manager until 1976 when he opted to freelance for several years working with political commercials, assistant director on a film (now a cult film), “Clonus Horror,” writing scripts, etc.

Berk’s Office Furniture
In 1978, Paul and his brother leapt full bore into capitalism by opening Berk’s Office Furniture store in Northridge and then a second store in Santa Clarita in 1980 near the old Mustang Drive-in Theater.  

In 2006, they sold their store, but retained their building and Paul retired… well not entirely. Today, he manages his 72,000 square foot commercial building and he still dabbles in video work as a hobby.  

“Getting back to my roots has been therapeutically stimulating,” he added.  

Meanwhile, Amy taught at Peachland Elementary School from 1975 to 1990 and these days she’s focused on her artwork using watercolors.  

Paul and Amy are enjoying life and have even taught artistic classes with Celebrity Cruise Lines. I commend you Paul for your service to America and to the both of you for your outstanding community service.

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