MY FATHER'S AXIOMS

Glowing Army ceremonies honoring my father were common...

Fort Carson...

Mechanized Infantry...

Fort Knox...

M60 Patton tank...

Fort Knox nostalgia as a training center...

My father prepared hundreds of young men for combat...

Fort McClellan - the WAC training center...

The Department of Defense anticipated unprecedented challenges with yet another Carter Catastrophe, integrating the WAC with their male counterparts...

The highest levels of Army leadership trusted this Drill Sergeant to lead the rest.

LTC Clark, his Battalion Commander, quickly recognized SFC (soon to be MSG) Daw's leadership and warrior skills.

She designated him as the Battalion First Sergeant.

My father provided a skillset necessary for the sea change placed upon the military morale and esprit de corps by Carter.

Fort Jackson...

The US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) operates one of four Basic Combat Training programs on this installation.

I was blessed and fortunate, indeed, to be able to attend my father's retirement ceremony.

I must say, that Banty Rooster was struggling to burst out as the accolades kept coming from his Battalion Commander.

As a young captain stationed at the Army's Aviation Center as Forensic Officer, I recognized and had the utmost respect for CSM Daw, the senior enlisted advisor to the commander of Fort Jackson, a Major General.

There he is...

CSM Daw's Battalion Commander confirmed my father's first axiom...

Leave things better than when you found them...

Be a Southern man and all that entails...

Faith...

Family...

The Flag...

The Flag...

As a soldier...

Duty...

Honor...

Country...

Country...

The Sergeant Major walked the walk, transforming young men.

Fort Knox, a golden opportunity to witness first hand...

Graduation from Basic Training...

Company formation...