 | Proud of My Town
(November 29, 2007) | 
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I'm southern born and bred. Four generations
of my family worked in the cotton mills along the Chattahoochee
River of Columbus, Georgia, the last southern city of the Civil
War to be attacked and burned on Easter Sunday, April 16, 1865.
The Union soldiers received the memo eight days too late that
Robert E. Lee had surrendered.
With textile manufacturing long gone, the Eagle Mill is being
converted to Loft Apartments. The mill once produced the
majority of Confederate uniforms while the Columbus Iron Works,
now the Columbus Trade and Convention Center, produced swords,
pistols, rifles, mortars, and cannons. Our town, the largest
manufacturer of naval machinery within the Confederacy was with
its combined war-related industries the greatest supplier to the
Confederacy outside of Richmond, | | 
Deborah Tainsh
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Virginia. |
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We are home to the National Civil War Naval
Museum, and in our historic Linwood cemetery rests Columbus' own
Civil War Brigadier General Henry L. Benning who was known as
"The Rock" after fighting in bloody battles like Chickamauga.
His legacy remains in the name of the greatest and largest
infantry center in the world. Fort Benning, Georgia was
established as Camp Benning in 1918, receiving permanent status
during World War II and now covering 182,000 acres for training
the world's greatest infantrymen who now fight for our nation
and the world against terrorism.
Fort Benning is also the annual November protest area for the
SOA watch. The School of Americas now called WHINSEC (Western
Hemisphere for Security Cooperation) was "established when the
US Congress passed--and President Clinton signed--the Defense
Authorization Act for FY01 to provide professional education and
training for civilian, military and law enforcement students
from nations throughout the Western Hemisphere." The protests
began after the 1989 murder of a Jesuit priest and lay women in
El Salvador by some from Latin America who had attended the SOA
and returned to their country to commit crimes. Priests and nuns
say their actions are to memorialize the slain through
protesting Fort Benning's School of Americas.
Over the years protesters have dwindled down to the hundreds of
students bused in from Jesuit related high schools and colleges
around the country. This year, November 17, they came again to
the Ignation Solidarity Network's Ignatian Family Teach-In to
reflect on their commitment to living "a faith that does
justice", and to call for an end to unjust institutions,
including the SOA/WHINSEC. My thought is murderers also come out
of colleges. Should we begin protesting schools of higher
education?
The teach-in was held at my town's historic Civil War Iron Works
building, now the Trade and Convention Center. Did I mention
that in our Civil War we had wounded and dead of an estimated
1.1 million? This convinces me that these kids associated with
Boston College and Weston Jesuit School of Theology, and
described to me "showing an abysmal lack of knowledge" are
definitely here for the free trip and easy college credit, or
surely they would request not to meet in a building that
provided so much ammunition for America's Civil War.
However, Fort Benning and my southern counterparts are courteous
to these students with arm bands that read, "Close SOA,"
sweatshirts with "Close Guantanamo" and some with signs that
read, "Stop the unjust war in Iraq." The registered students, at
least 750 this year, as always, were taken on busses by Fort
Benning authority to tour WHINSEC (SOA) and hear an educational
lecture. Afterwards they had the opportunity to return and
stroll along our beautiful historic Uptown Columbus Broadway
where the annual God Bless Fort Benning event was in full swing
to honor our Fort Benning soldiers and families. |
| 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. |
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Students thanking troops |
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Troops shaking
hands with veterans |
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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 troopsto 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.
On main stage musicians including Keni
Thomas, a local resident and former member of
the 75th 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 |
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Commanding General and Mrs. Walt Wodjakowski, Dr. Laura, Dr. and Mrs. Tidwell, founders of GBFB,
soldiers, and supporters connected to the event's success. |
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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. The only faces not sharing our broad smiles on
Saturday were those who appeared to be part of the WHINSEC
protest. They looked none of us in the eye as they strolled past
in small groups, too young and uninformed about their nation's
history and military to truly understand why they were there,
except for school credit and a free trip; and too misinformed by
today's media to grasp the depths about the war on terror and
successes in Iraq. |
| Young people that I would
have loved to have sat down and spoken with but
my husband thought it best I didn't. Young
people that may one day see themselves as
speaker David Horowitz. I once heard him say
that as he grew older he realized how stupid he
was as a Vietnam era college protestor.
Maybe one day students and
individuals like those who wear arm bands of
protest today will have an epiphany before it's
too late to understand that freedom is not free.
Maybe one day they will help fight to retain it.
Or maybe not.
But for now, I'm proud of my hometown 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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Quilted USA Flag
on building |
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By Deborah Tainsh
Copyright
November 20, 2007 About Author:
Deborah Tainsh, Gold Star Mother of Sgt Patrick Tainsh KIA Baghdad, Iraq, 2/11/04, is the author of Heart of a Hawk - One family's sacrifice and journey toward healing, recipient of the Military Writers Society of America's Spirit of Freedom award. Deborah is also a supporter of America's military and their families. She is a national speaker, writer, and peer mentor for TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and Good Grief Camp for Young Survivors) located in Washington, D.C. She and her husband, USMC Sgt. Major (Ret) David Tainsh live in Harris County, Georgia, near Columbus and their son, Phillip. Comment on this article |
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