Sunday, Jun. 14, 2009

Commentary: Stand back and marvel at the National Infantry Museum

Stand in front of the National Infantry Museum and look at it.

You don’t have to go inside. Just stand in the parking lot that stretches for more than a half-mile between South Lumpkin Road and Fort Benning Boulevard.

Look at the “Follow Me” statue, right arm raised, weapon clutched in its left hand. The bronze-plated soldier is perched atop a granite pedestal, underneath a magnificent dome.

Just stand there for a minute and look at it all — the statue, the massive red brick building, the manicured lawn leading to a grand parade field where soldiers will march out of training and into service, the restored World War II-era barracks and buildings.

Before you know it, you’ve spent 30 minutes standing, staring and thinking.

“It’s a stunning statement,” Columbus State University President Tim Mescon said after a recent visit to the $91 million project.

Don’t just take the word of an academic.

Ask a business leader.

“It’s the vehicle that will allow South Columbus to take flight,” said Bob Koon, a retired Columbus textile executive and civic leader.

But it’s about more than business. It’s about the soldier, and the soldier’s rich history.

Ask one. He’ll tell you.

“This museum becomes a teaching tool,” said retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, a decorated military leader who has been involved in the fundraising for the complex.

The National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center at Patriot Park officially opens Friday morning. After more than a decade of planning and two years of construction, the museum will be available to anyone who wants to visit. And the National Infantry Foundation is counting on almost 400,000 people — more than twice the population of Columbus — to visit annually.

In recent weeks, some have been getting sneak peeks at the museum, including “The Last 100 Yards,” its signature exhibit showcasing the Infantry’s key battles.

Mescon admits he’s a sample of one, but he’s one who is mighty impressed.

“That 100-yard walk may be among the most emotional journeys I have taken personally,” he said. “It’s a testimony to the founding principles of this country and the whole concept — for right or wrong — that it takes a strong fighting army to assure our position in the world.”

It will be a place where the past meets the future. And the museum becomes an interactive classroom for future soldiers, McCaffrey said.

“Fort Benning is one of the most important institutions in the nation, more so than a Harvard or a Stanford,” McCaffrey said. “The survival of our nation depends on institutions like Quantico, Fort Benning, Fort Sill, Fort Knox and others. This museum becomes a teaching tool. The veterans who come home to Fort Benning will intersect with the 18-year-olds who have stepped forward to defend us.”

Ask another soldier. Retired Gen. Ed Burba spent four years at Fort Benning in the mid-1980s, first as deputy commander, then commander.