Infantry Museum Opens

The National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning is officially open. The ceremony and ribbon-cutting in west Georgia Friday morning was bolstered by some star power--retired four-star General and former Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke at the event.

The focal point of the $100-million project is the museum honoring the 234-year history of the U.S. Army Infantry. Also included at the complex is Patriot Park, with markers honoring the fallen.

The Infantry Museum has extended hours this opening weekend, from 9am to 8pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Museum Could Bring Jobs and Millions

A study projects that Columbus might get an annual $26.3 million economic boost with the opening of the new National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning. The Columbus State University study projects between 380,000 and 400,000 museum visitors a year, 95 percent of them from out of town. The study concludes that 520 jobs will be created through employment at the museum and other new businesses in the city that hire staff, and existing businesses that add employees to take advantage of the increase in tourism. The $91 million museum, which will be opened Friday with a visit by retired Gen. Colin Powell, is expected to benefit the south Columbus area, which for years has been a center for nightclubs and cheap motels.

(Associated Press)

National Infantry Foundation unveils soldiers' sculptures

Entrance road to the museum, December, 2008. (Dave Bender)

The National Infantry Foundation on Thursday unveiled a sample of 50 life size sculptures of military personnel that will be included in the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center at Fort Benning, near Columbus, Ga.

Thirty-eight of the sculptures are of infantry troops, and the remaining 12 represent other historic figures.

The sculptures are modeled after live U.S. Army soldiers who each had to go through a three-hour-long casting process, according to a statement.

The museum is scheduled to open in March, 2009.

A crane hoists a Bradley Fighting Vehicle into place at the museum, June, 2007. Due to its size and weight, the vehicle was installed early on, in order to fit into the facility before the walls went up. (Dave Bender)

(PRNewswire)

Click here for more about the National Infantry Museum.

Nat'l POW/MIA Recognition Day

Fort Benning will commemorate National POW/MIA Recognition Day with a brief ceremony at 3 p.m. Sept. 19 in front of the former National Infantry Museum, according to the Public Affairs Office.

National POW/MIA Recognition Day was first commemorated on July 18, 1979, and has been recognized by presidential proclamation on the third Friday of September since 1986.

Since World War I, more than 10,000 American service members have been listed as missing in action. Thousands more have been incarcerated as prisoners of war.

The National Prisoner of War Museum at Andersonville is holding a series of commemoration ceremonies.

Click here for Department of Defense links with more information about U.S. service personnel POW and MIA's.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of events at Fort Benning.

WWII hero donates $2.5 M to infantry museum

The retired chairman and CEO of United Technologies has pledged $2.5 million towards the National Infantry Museum, now under construction at Fort Benning near Columbus.

The pledge by Harry Jack Gray, and his wife, Helen is the project's largest individual donation to date, according to an NIF statement.

Gray received a silver and bronze medal for bravery in two battles in Europe during World War II, including the Battle of the Bulge. The museum's mezzanine area will be named for the 2nd Infantry Regiment, Gray's unit in the war.

Conglomerate United Technologies, among its other industries builds weapons systems for the military, including the Black Hawk helicopter, and Pratt &Whitney aircraft engines.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about the museum, which is scheduled to open in March, 2009.

Senators want to mint new coin

U.S. flag in front of the uncompleted National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning near Columbus. (Dave Bender)

U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson want the U.S. Treasury to mint a memorial coin for the Nation Infantry Museum, set to open early next year.

They are calling on the Secretary of the Treasury to mint 350,000 silver coins honoring soldiers and commemorating the creation of the new infantry museum, according to a statement.

Sale of the coins would raise $3.5 million for the museum.

NIF officials say they’ve raised over 80 million of the 100 million dollar project so far.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about the museum.

Nat'l Infantry Museum gets more funding

American flags dot the site of a planned memorial to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, July 2008. The National Infantry Museum is visible in the background. (Dave Bender)

The National Infantry Museum in Columbus in western Georgia, set to open next year today got some added financial firepower aimed towards that goal.

Carl Gregory, who owns a local Chrysler dealership is donating $250,000 to the project. Gregory says it’s a show of support for American troops.

Retired major general Jerry White directs the NIF, who are building and will operate the new museum:

“We’ve raised 82 million dollars… but we’re going to have to raise a total of a 100 million to cover all the costs.”

The federal government is funding 27 million dollars towards the center, with the state adding in another five million.

A crane hoists a Bradley Fighting Vehicle into place at the museum, June, 2007. (Dave Bender)

The presentation of the check was held before a World War II Chrysler M-3 tank, one of 25,000 the automaker built for the army during that period:

“In fact, General Patton, when he went to north Africa at the beginning of World War II, departed from Fort Benning and he deployed in an M-3 tank made by the Chrysler corporation.”

The 200 acre center is taking shape alongside Fort Benning, the home of the infantry, paratroopers, and the Army Rangers, among other ground and mechanized units.

The 185,000 square-foot museum replaces an older facility, which was closed earlier this year.

But, White says, the battle for adequate funding isn’t over yet:

“The fundraising is at a critical place, now, and we need all the help we can get to complete the project so we can honor soldiers for what they have done for us.”

The new museum is set to open in 2009. It will include a 3-D IMAX Theatre and interactive displays of the Army infantry’s history, a seven-acre parade field, and a memorial walk of honor.

Ceremonial infantry soldier's shovel with Army Airborne infantry patch, and construction helmet at the 173rd Brigade memorial groundbreaking, July, 2008. The National Infantry Museum is visible in the background. (Dave Bender)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of events at the National Infantry Museum and Fort Benning.

More details about the museum are available here.

New air service to Columbus

The Eclipse 500 is part of a new airplane category called "very light jets," and carries three passengers at speeds up to 425 mph — faster than the average propeller plane its size. (Wilfredo Lee/AP file)

A regional business air-carrier has just added Columbus to its roster of destinations in Georgia and across the southeast. DayJet bills itself as the world's first per-seat, on-demand jet service.

The carrier currently serves 45 destinations across the southeast, catering to business travelers able to pay premium prices. For example, a hop between just-added destinations, Columbus and Savannah, runs between $300 and $1,000 dollars.

While DayJet is aimed chiefly at Columbus's executive clientèle like AFLAC and Synovus, Georgia Third District Congressman Lynn Westmoreland says the increased flight options will bolster smaller industries, as well:

"With the hassle of airports and major hubs, now, we just think this is going to be the access for a lot of businesses; some of these businesses in outlying areas to have a chance of promoting business and getting people to come to their area, because they'll now have this transportation for people within the business."

Westmoreland, who sits on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the aviation subcommittee says Ft. Benning's planned expansion will also benefit from the increased air traffic.

The training post is expected to see over 30,000 troops and dependents moving to the area over the next three years, as part of the Army's base relocation project:

"With the expansion of Ft. Benning, and all the things that Ft. Benning is doing, and the armor division coming down, and the new infantry museum... we just think that there needs to be just a little bit better regional service to the Columbus area. I think, right now, Delta has maybe two flights a day."

Westmoreland says DayJet may create a market more attractive to carriers like Delta, Airtran or Southwest.

A company spokesman says they'll be announcing other Georgia destinations in coming weeks.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of transportation issues.

$1M boost for Infantry Museum

Georgia’s new National Infantry Museum has a $1 million-dollar boost. The Columbus-Ledger Enquirer reports At&T stepped in with the donation to the future Columbus museum. The museum is slated to be built next to Fort Benning, where the nation’s infantry is based. Organizers have raised $77 million dollars.

AT&T: $1 Million to Nat'l Infantry Museum

Officials, press gather at museum ceremony, June, 2007. (file photo/Dave Bender)

AT&T Inc. says it's donating $1 million to the National Infantry Foundation for the construction of the new National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center. NIF president, Jerry White:

"This gift not only affirms AT&T's commitment to the communities it serves, it demonstrates the company's allegiance to soldiers and their families and the sacrifices they make for our freedom."

The museum, being built in Columbus alongside Ft. Benning, is set to open in 2008.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the museum's construction.

Congress okays $6M for Nat'l Infantry Museum

Officials attend installation ceremony of armored vehicle
at National Infantry Museum, June, 2007. (Dave Bender).

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have agreed to include $6 million for construction of a "Soldier Center" as part of the National Infantry Museum, currently under construction next to Ft. Benning in Columbus.

The funds will appear in the 2008 Defense Appropriations bill, officials with the museum's backers, the National Infantry Foundation (NIF), say. The facility is expected to open next year.

After a final vote by House and Senate, the appropriation then goes to President Bush for his approval, according to Second Congressional District representative Sanford Bishop (D). Bishop is a supporter of the project.

NIF President Jerry White said in a statement released on Wednesday,

"Together with the $5 million provided through Congressman Bishop’s work last year for the parade field component of the project, today’s conference committee action represents a very powerful vote of confidence by Congress in support of this long overdue tribute to Infantrymen."

NIF spokesperson Cyndy Cerbin says of the $86 million project:

"If the federal money is approved... we will have raised about $76 million to date."

Work crews set donated Army Bradley Fighting Vehicle, that saw
action in Iraq into display position at museum. (Dave Bender)

The project includes a 185,000-foot museum, a seven-acre parade field, a memorial walk of honor, an "authentic World War II Company Street," and a 3-D IMAX Theatre.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about the museum.

Feds detain illegal workers at Nat'l Infantry Museum

National Infantry Museum, under construction in June, 2007.
(Dave Bender)

Federal law-enforcement officials arrested 30 undocumented workers at Columbus's National Infantry Museum, under construction adjacent to Ft. Benning earlier this week.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained the construction workers at the site on Tuesday, Oct. 30. Agents caught two who tried to flee.

Museum spokesperson Cyndy Cerbin says the workers were not on the base itself:

“The National Infantry Museum is being built on property owned by the National Infantry Foundation, and it is not federal property – part of Ft. Benning.”

Ft. Benning's Public Affairs Office refused to comment on the case, and directed all inquires to Batson-Cook, general contractors for the museum.

Eddie Sanders, site project manager for Batson-Cook, says his company is cooperating with federal authorities on the case. Sanders says the workers were employed by subcontractors "to perform various trades on the project," and not by Batson-Cook:

"Batson-Cook files all federal, state and local laws, as well as our subcontractors regarding hiring practices."

Sanders says the workers "are innocent until proven guilty," and were not on Ft. Benning property at any time. He declined to name the subcontractors, only saying that, "Since they [ICE] are conducting an investigation, we would not be able to release that information at this time."

Project Executive Paul Meadows told the Ledger-Enquirer newspaper that those arrested worked as masons, fireproofing, and metal stud tradesmen and included local and out-of-town subcontractors.

Referring to the subcontractors, Sanders said, "There are several contractors we work with frequently," adding, "...they abide by the federal, state and local laws and regulations."

Sanders said that the number of workers, including subcontractors and employees on-site averaged "from 75 to 90 -- right around there. It kind of fluctuates from day-to-day."

Richard Rocha, a spokesman for ICE says the detainees are mostly from Mexico:

“Most of the people apprehended on Tuesday are from Mexico. There are 27 from Mexico, three from Guatemala, Those individuals will be processed throught the immigration court system...”

Seven of them were arraigned today, several on charges that included illegal re-entry, misuse of a social security number, and fraudulent use of an alien registration card, according to US Georgia Middle District attorney Max Wood in Macon.

The detainees were taken to the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, and will face deportation hearings in coming days.

The museum is set to open next year.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the National Infantry Museum.

Click here for GPB coverage of immigrant affairs.

Leading Columbus philanthropist, business leader dies

Carl Lloyd Patrick, the co-founder of the Columbus-based Carmike movie theater chain, was 88-years-old when he passed away on Wednesday.

Patrick was a highly-regarded community, corporate and philanthropic leader in Columbus for decades. He and his family donated generously to many organizations and charities, among them St. Francis Hospital and Columbus Technical Institute. Their philanthropy was recognized by first lady Rosalyn Carter.

Patrick fought as a paratrooper in Italy in World War Two and left the army at the rank of major. His bullet-riddled uniform is on display at the National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning.

He is survived by his wife and brother, two sons and two grandsons. Patrick will be laid to rest on Friday.

2008 State budget earmarks $21M for Columbus projects

Two Columbus projects got a serious financial boost when Gov. Sonny Perdue signed the 2008 Georgia budget into law late Wednesday.

Just over $16 million dollars went to Columbus Technical College's health sciences building, and five million was set aside for the National Infantry Museum. The $85 million project is under construction at Ft. Benning.

"We are very lucky that we have $21 million coming to Columbus," said state Rep. Richard Smith, R-Columbus told the Ledger-Enquirer newspaper. "If you look at the numbers, Columbus did quite well."

National Infantry Museum Foundation Executive Director Ben Williams: "[Perdue] knew we were attempting to not only raise money here, but also nationally," adding, "Having the state of Georgia support the project at this level is a wonderful stamp of approval for us."

The museum installed a Bradley Fighting Vehicle among the facilities' steel construction girders in a ceremony on Friday.


Crane hoists vehicle into place
(Dave Bender)

Columbus: Nat'l. Infantry Museum gets Bradley Fighting Vehicle

Crane gingerly lifts vehicle to waiting
construction team. (Dave Bender)

An Army Bradley Fighting Vehicle that saw heavy action in Iraq was donated Thursday morning to the new National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning.

The 25-ton weapon was hoisted into place two stories off the ground on a reinforced steel platform.


Construction workers align Bradley on
cradle in museum (Dave Bender)

BAE Industries, who make the gun-studded armored car, made the donation at a ceremony among the girders and hard-hats at the still-under-construction, 180,000 square-foot facility.

Company officials say the vehicle saw hard fighting with the 4th Infantry Division around Baghdad in 2004.

Mark Willhoft, BAE project manager: “It was hit by an IED and had pretty significant damage to it; and we were able to take it in and refurbish it, and supply it back to the museum for display here at the new building.”

Soldiers manning the vehicle were not hurt in the attack.

Close to 40 Columbus and state officials, National Infantry Foundation and army representatives broke into applause as the vehicle was deftly set down for future generations to see.

Andy Hove, BAE Systems’ director of Bradley Combat
Systems looks on as workers remove cables.
(Dave Bender)
The museum is set to open late next year.