November 14, 2009
Fort Benning's Infantry Museum is a multi-million dollar museum that just opened in June of this year. Benning is known as the "Home of the Infantry,"so this museum is the largest infantry museum in the world. Retired Gen. Colin Powell was the guest speaker for its Grand Opening, who said,
“This is what we owe to those who went before. This is the place. This is the home. This is their legacy. May God bless all those who have worn the crossed rifles over the years.”
Behind the museum is Parade Field, a baseball stadium. Dirt was brought in from a battlefield of every war America has been in and sprinkled under the field's sod. What a great honor for all those who play there!
The giant iron statue behind us is 'Iron Mike,' the famous Follow Me (the infantry motto) statue, which was moved from the front of Infantry Hall.
It was my first time going to the museum since its Opening. I met Donnie there and we spent the afternoon walking around exploring every inch of the museum... I LOVE military history! Skyler is at an age where he'd truly appreciate the museum... but the younger two will most definitely have us hurrying through some parts of it. So it was nice to take our time together before our visit with the boys.
I'm heading into the Civil War...
There were several metal statues displayed, each made from an actual photograph. This photo above, Donnie is standing next to one of a soldier looking around the corner for a German soldier. Historically, this photo was said to symbolize America's looking from WWI into the future...
I made Donnie stand in front of this so I could take a photo, haha!
"Fort Benning: Home of the Infantry, World Class Training for World Class Soldiers. At Fort Benning, we transform men into soldiers. Every time our nation has gone to war, Fort Benning soldiers have led the way. These soldiers remain the bedrock of our fighting force, taking the fight to the battlefields of our enemies around the world."
Donnie is trained in all of these weapons... along with a few other larger ones that wouldn't fit in this display case. =)
A ceiling display I thought was cool. The helicopter is a Black Hawk.
A display case for the Officer Candidate School (OCS) here at Fort Benning. Fort Benning is the home to MANY different schools, men and women from units all over the world come here to train.
A photo wall in the Airborne display area.
A very cool display case showing Fort Benning historical memorabilia.
The AMAZING Wall of Honor
The reason Donnie, and MANY others, joined the military.
Operation Enduring Freedom display... Infantry Operations in Afghanistan.
Our guys don't play with your typical deck of cards, haha! Donnie played a part in capturing the "King of Spades." =)
Since living here at Fort Benning over the last six years, we have been able to capture a few historical keepsakes of our own. I had the opportunity of meeting and speaking with both Gen. Hal Moore (We Were Soldiers Once... And Young) and Gen. Ralph Puckett (Words for Warriors: A Professional Soldier's Notebook), and having them both autograph a copy of their book for Donnie. I have no idea how, but both times I came to the book signing when no one else was there, what luck! In 2005, we were invited for an early viewing of "The Great Raid," a movie documenting the world's largest rescue mission to this day. After the viewing we met director John Dahl, who thanked the men for their service. At our amazing Balls, we have had the honor of listening to Vice President Dick Cheney, Ret. Major Robert Prince (captain who led the rescue in "A Great Raid"), and the Honorable Les Brownlee (Retired Secretary of the Army) speak. Donnie's first Platoon Sergeant was on the rescue mission in "Black Hawk Down," which he, of course, never talked about it... nor did his wife. But we all know who he was in the movie, God bless him.
I never tire of hearing these stories, of learning about our country's history... and honoring the great men and women who work so hard to serve us.
