Augusta Army Boots - Fort Gordon, Georgia February 2006
The US Army Signal Center installation located at Fort Gordon , Augusta, Georgia, has sponsored a familiarization exercise for the past few years where a dozen or so chosen citizens of the community are invited to participate in a two day overnight training program to observe the life and operations of the Military units located at the Fort. This year the session was hosted by the 93rd Signal Brigade and began on February 27, 2006. One of the Brigade units represented in the project was the 56th Signal Battalion under the current command of LTC Stephen Middleton. I served with this unit from 1941 to 1945 in the WWII European Theater, including the initial D-Day assault upon Omaha Beach in Normandy to Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, a total of 335 combat days and covering 1305 road miles. The WWII unit was awarded five European Battle campaign medals in addition to a Unit Commendation Award. I was honored to be invited, by the current commander along with my son, to become a part of the exercise this year. It was a proud effort for me to meet the challenges of Army life after more than 60 years... CLICK on photo to enlarge - for better viewing and captions.