A Medal of Honor recipient and five other Army heroes were honored Friday at Fort Benning when six new buildings in Harmony Church were dedicated in their names.
“He lost his life for the country,” said Thelma Rivers Jackson, sister of Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sgt. Ruben Rivers. “Whatever he did, he always did it with all his might.”
Rivers of Tecumseh, Okla., died Nov. 19, 1944, after his tank was hit by enemy fire during World War II in a battle at Guebling, France. A barracks off the Old Cusseta Highway was named for Rivers, a member of the black 761st Tank Battalion under Gen. George S. Patton’s Third Army. It took more than 50 years before the Medal of Honor was presented to relatives by President Bill Clinton in 1997.
Three other barracks were dedicated for Spc. Travis A. Babbitt of Uvalde, Texas; Staff Sgt. Erwin H. Becker of Larsen, Wis., and Staff Sgt. James C. Matteson of Jamestown, N.Y. A dining facility was named for Master Sgt. Robert A. Tedford of Los Angeles and headquarters building for 1st Battalion, 81st Armor, 194th Armored Brigade was named for Capt. Weldon W. Wilson.
