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November 2007
By Deborah Tainsh
My home, Columbus, Georgia, where four generations of my family worked in the cotton mills along the Chattahoochee River, is home to the greatest and largest infantry center in the world, Fort Benning, Georgia. Ft. Benning, established as Camp Benning in 1918, received permanent status during World War II and now covers 182,000 acres for training the world’s greatest infantrymen who fight for our nation and the world against terrorism.
Deborah with Ft. Benning soldiers at the 2007 God Bless Ft. Benning Day.
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Columbus is also proud to host the annual God Bless Ft. Benning Day. At this year’s event, a day full of sun and brisk fall temperatures, I was so proud of students from our Columbus State University who came to thank our soldiers and provide activities from a kissing booth (on the side of the face) to karaoke for the soldiers.
On my corner of Broadway called “Hug a Hero” I spent all day with friends from veteran’s chapters, Blue Star Moms and Wives, Gold Star Wives, Girl Scouts and Brownies, Operation Response, and Operation Home Front giving out as many hugs, hand shakes, and thank yous as possible to the young men who will graduate from basic in the next few weeks and soon head to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Young soldiers shake hands and thank heroes who fought in WWII and Korea
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These young men in turn shook hands with and thanked heroes who fought in WWII and Korea. Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile set up tent areas and provided hundreds of free phones for the troops to call home. Claudia Pemberton, who drove ten hours from West Virginia, provided free copies of her book Love Leaves No One Behind to the troops. “I don’t have the heart to sell my book to these heroes,” she told me.
Deborah and Dr Laura
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On main stage musicians including Keni Thomas, a local resident and former member of the 75 th Ranger Regiment who survived Somalia’s Black Hawk Down, provided entertainment. Everyone also experienced the presence and inspiring words of author and radio talk show host, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, proud mom of a son who attended basic at Fort Benning and is currently serving in Afghanistan. From Colorado, Bob Calvert of Talking With Heroes Radio talk show interviewed Commanding General and Mrs. Walt Wodjakowski, Dr. Laura, Dr. and Mrs. Tidwell, founders of GBFB, soldiers, and supporters connected to the event’s success. (Listen to Deb's interview with Bob Calvert.)
Fort Benning provided Humvess and Stryker vehicles for children and adults to explore. Food was abundant from vendors and restaurants located on Broadway where the Kress and H.L. Green signs can still be seen on the face of century old brick buildings.
I’m proud of my home town, where my husband was also born, its history that I strive to learn from, its support of the greatest infantry men and women in the world, and our new GBFB visitation center where soldiers will be provided support by their community and have access to computer stations and telephones.
God bless Columbus, God Bless Fort Benning and its sponsors, God bless our troops and families, and God bless America.
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