Posted on 02/25/2018 7:45:20 PM PST by nickcarraway
An Army band played patriotic music on the front lawn of the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center Saturday while crowds gathered inside at exhibits for the 100th anniversary of Fort Benning.
Called Columbus Salutes the Centennial, the free event featured living history performances, rock climbing , military displays and other equipment to recognize the post that was established as Camp Benning in 1918 to train soldiers during World War I. An estimated 5,000 people were expected during the day for the celebration.
Bob Willmschen, 72, was at the Vietnam Memorial Plaza looking for a soldier lost during the Vietnam War. With the names of fallen soldiers on the wall and the Global War on Terrorism exhibit nearby, Willmschen said young people need to know the military history.
“I think it gives these young people a good idea what the soldiers have gone through,” he said. “I think it’s a very good idea.”
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Willmschen, a Vietnam veteran, served with the 4th Infantry Division from August 1966-67 but left before the Tet offensive from North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces. “It was something else,” he said.
Visitors were taken back to the 1900s with volunteers Ernie Stewart and his wife, Linda, dressed in period clothing. Ernie Stewart of Griffin, Ga., was wearing an Army uniform and had a table filled with the Krag–Jorgensen .30-caliber rifle, a knife, canteen and other items used by an infantry soldier.
“It’s a period between the Spanish-American War and World War I,” he said . “The Army was taking baby steps to becoming a modern Army.”
The rifle with a five-round clip was used for about 10 years before it was replaced by the Springfield M1903.
Stewart, 71, said he served as a military police officer in Vietnam with the 25th Infantry Division in 1970. “We never even got shot at,” he said. “ I was there for 366 days.”
Some visitors gathered at the Global War on Terrorism exhibit where Battalion Chief Michael Maiz of the New York Fire Department was sought out to sign t-shirts. Maiz was on duty during the 9/11 terrorists attacks on the World Trade Center.
“We always want to help people,” he said. “We never look for awards. I think it’s in certain people to want to help. When something goes wrong, we are the ones running into the danger.”
Of the 2,977 people who died that day, 343 were firefighters. Maiz, 46, stood near the donated 13-foot steel beam salvaged from the World Trade Center.
“I guess we normally don’t talk about the stuff we do but I lost a lot of guys I knew that day,” Maiz said. “Me personally, I think about the guys that were married that had kids. I’m sad but I am also proud I’m part of the fire department. “
He said firefighters realized the time they spend together is important. “That is one of the main reasons we make sure we have a good meal, we sit down together,” said. “ Honestly, it could be the last one. That’s why you have friendships we have like the military.”
I was there for jump school in the early 80’s.
Good times.
That is a fabulous museum! I’ve been twice, can’t recommend it enough.
I was sorta sad to see the museum move out of the old hospital building but the new facility is wonderful.
But not only is it a gun-free-zone but the signs warn that not even “small pocket knives” are permitted. So be sure to get that baby Swiss job off of your key chain before going in.
I was there in 1971 and loved it. My favorite post.
Did my basic training and AIT there. I’d like to go back and see the old stomping grounds.
About 40 years later, I was at Four Corners NM, talking with a Navajo silversmith named Joe Begay. He was a Green Beret during Vietnam, and one of his uncles was an original Codetalker. We both went through Jump School at Benning.
We must have spent an hour rehashing memories, it was probably the last time my youngest son (now 16), would look at me with great respect.
“...a Green Beret during Vietnam, and one of his uncles was an original Codetalker.”
That must have been a great conversation alright!
The thing I liked best about Benning was that I got to meet guys from or destined for Marines, Seals, Rangers, SF, 82nd, etc and even some foreign troops - all there for jump school. It made for some fun, good-hearted rivalry and trash talking.
I got orders to go to the 10th SFGA my last week at Benning. Back then the 10th was at Ft Devens outside Ayer, MA. That post got closed sometime after I got out. I think that group moved to Colorado after that.
“...walking off the drop zone under my own power after the fifth jump...lol.”
I recall that I was most nervous on my SECOND jump, when I KNEW what was about to happen. The first jump I was too busy trying to remember what they had taught us as I briefly stood in the door.
I never got hurt bad jumping, but banged up a bit at Devens once when they made us jump for some brass even though it was too windy - I could not release my chute for a while after landing because the wind was dragging me across the ground.
Went through jump school in 1969, 2 weeks later I left San Francisco headed to Vietnam. # days later I was on a scenic mountain top called FOB Bastogne in the middle of the A Shau valley with the 502 101st Air Mobile. Never jumped again.
We took our Boy Scout troop there for Veterans Day. I made sure I pointed out the section in the Korean War gallery that made mention of the fighting before the invasion to my youngest. That is when my father was serving over there as a medic. Most people do not realize that the Norks were causing trouble in the South before the war started. It was only recently that I found out about it myself because I couldn’t figure out how my father was in Korea and graduated college in 1952, so he clarified the timeline for me.
There's something exceptionally disgusting about a military museum exhibiting that pussified mentality.
I was in I Corps about a year later. C 1/501.
Welcome Home.
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