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Powell salutes soldiers at museum opening

FORT BENNING, Ga. — Gen. Colin Powell saluted more than two centuries of American soldiers Friday, telling a crowd of more than 2,000 people at the grand opening of the National Infantry Museum that “trust is the essence of the infantry.”

“I am the infantry. Trust me. Follow me,” is the tradition that thousands have carried as they trained at installations such as Fort Benning before going on to fight in foreign lands, the retired four-star general and former secretary of state said.

Powell, who trained for the infantry at Fort Benning 50 years ago and returned to the west Georgia post for other instruction during his long career, was guest speaker at the dedication of the $107 million, 190,000-square-foot museum. He joined dignitaries such as Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, and U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, all R-Ga., and Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., in a sweltering outdoor ceremony marked by temperatures in the mid-90s.

“This would not be a certified, official Fort Benning ceremony if it was not 95 degrees,” Powell joked. The palatial museum building features a 13,000-square-foot hall where visitors can see six galleries covering battles from the Revolutionary War to Iraq.

Historic structures

Just outside, adjacent to a parade field hallowed by soil from battlegrounds where Americans have fought and died for 234 years, Gen. George Patton’s office and sleeping quarters are found on World War II Street, which also displays an authentic 1940s barracks, mess hall, church and other structures.

The museum’s signature exhibit, The Last 100 Yards, contains scenes from eight wars in infantry history and features lifelike figures cast from actual soldiers. Visitors can also see a World War II glider, Huey helicopter and Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

The exhibit signifies the Infantry’s role in taking the last 100 yards in any battle. Powell noted that all branches of the service work together, but he said the infantry plays a crucial role.

“To take and hold land, and to dare anyone to take it away from us, is our core mission,” he said. “It is our reason for being.”

The general said the museum will allow up to half a million visitors a year to get a close look at the type of service that “legions of anonymous patriots” have performed.

“The word museum is entirely inadequate to describe it,” Powell said. “It is the only attraction in the country to tell the story from the infantryman’s perspective.”

The dedication ceremony followed a simulated helicopter air assault with UH-60 Black Hawks nearby. Members of the Silver Wings precision parachute team landed on the field before a graduation ceremony for 200 infantry trainees.

‘Connected’

Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero, Fort Benning’s commander, told the graduates they “are now connected to all infantrymen, past and present.”

In a brief news conference after the ceremony, Powell said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the current administration could handle the tense situations with North Korea and Iran. The general served as secretary of state during President George W. Bush’s first term but endorsed Barack Obama in the last election.

Although there are always crises, “you have to remember there are great opportunities,” he said.

He noted that when he began his military career about 50 years ago, there was a possibility of nuclear war. Since that time, however, the Soviet Union has collapsed and the Cold War is history.

Even though there are problems globally, Powell said, “more people are advancing around the world than ever before.”

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