Meet Nathan

Content ImageWho is Nathan Bech?

 

Nathan Bech is a West Springfield native, small businessman and veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. His firsthand experience on the battleground and running a business make him uniquely qualified to serve Western and Central Massachusetts in the United States Congress.

 

Nathan’s Childhood

 

Born in Springfield in 1974, Nathan moved with his parents and brother to West Springfield at the age of ten. Nathan is the son of a middle class western Massachusetts family. His father was a restaurant manager and his mother worked in a drug rehabilitation center. Later in life they started a property management business which Nathan eventually took over. Like many others, Nathan came from what he calls a “politically blended family”; his father was a Republican and his mother a Democrat. He learned early on that good ideas and real solutions come from both sides of the house.

 

Weekends for the Bechs were spent on outings across Massachusetts’ majestic landscapes. Nathan and his brother loved swimming at Gardner State Park or Otis Reservoir, hiking along the Quabbin and passing by the fall foliage along the Mohawk Trail. They have fond memories of climbing the glacial potholes in Shelburne Falls Content Imageand scouting at the Moses Reservation in Russell. This early start appreciating nature has made Nathan the outdoorsman and environmentalist he is today. Nathan still enjoys hiking, kayaking, and scuba diving.

His Education & Military Service

 

Nathan completed his work at West Springfield High School in a remarkable three years and was sent by Rotary International to study in India for a year before college. When he returned from India, Nathan enlisted as a Private in the Army Reserves, training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The Army sent Private Bech to learn Russian at the Defense Language Institute. After September 11th, 2001 Bech joined the active Army and went to Officer Candidate School. A newly minted Lieutenant Bech deployed as an intelligence officer to Afghanistan near the Pakistan border with the 10th Mountain Division. When he returned, Nathan volunteered to serve in Iraq where he worked directly with the former soviet Republic of Georgia’s 13th Shavnabada Infantry Battalion in Baghdad.


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The Army’s GI Bill helped to pay for Nathan to attend Colgate University where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. During college Nathan spent summers mentoring children in inner city Philadelphia. Nathan has also studied abroad Egypt and Israel. In addition to fluent Russian and Spanish, Nathan also speaks some Hebrew and Arabic. Nathan has continued his studies in Middle East Policy at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
 
At Home in West Springfield
 
Nathan moved home to help take care of his mother and run the family property management business after his father passed away from cancer. Nathan has spent seven years working on a volunteer basis with inmates in the Ludlow Jail, counseling them in order to reduce recidivism in Western and Central Massachusetts. Nathan is an active member of the Glorious Gospel Church in Springfield. Nathan’s faith and dedication to freedom led him to travel to China where he brought Bibles to oppressed Christians in the region.