Weddings at Main Post Chapel: Army brat remembers her patriotic day
It’s difficult to imagine a more patriotic wedding.
Deborah and Burley Wright were married in the Main Post Chapel at Fort Benning. Elevating the patriotism, their wedding date was July 4. Elevating the patriotism even more, their wedding date was July 4, 1976.
While the United States observed its 200th birthday with the celebration of its Declaration of Independence, breaking its bond with Great Britain, the Wrights celebrated the birth of their interdependence on the first day of their union — and it was Burl’s 25th birthday.
So, as the Ledger-Enquirer marks Fort Benning’s Centennial, it’s fitting to tell the story of this Bicentennial wedding.
Columbus natives
Burl and Deb grew up in Columbus. He graduated from Hardaway High School, she from Kendrick High School. Both earned degrees from Columbus College. Deb spent part of her youth in Germany, where her father, retired Master Sgt. Sam Garrett, was stationed.
“Dad was always proud of his service, and it gave him a road out of poverty,” Deb said. “By extension, it gave me, my brother and sister an opportunity to see a bigger world than the one we knew here in Columbus. Thanks also to dad’s service, my mother (Sarah Garrett) was able to complete her undergraduate degree at Columbus State University. Mother retired from the Muscogee County School District as principal of Forrest Road Elementary School.”
Deb also became an MCSD educator, teaching in the St. Elmo Center for the Gifted. Burl was a computer programmer. He worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield, Columbus Mill, TSYS as a project leader and The Game as a programming supervisor, then became an assistant professor of computer science at Columbus State University.
Now retired, they live in Columbus and travel and spoil their granddaughter.
How they met
Burl was drafted into the Army in 1971. He served active duty, mostly in South Korea with the Signal Corps, for 1½ years. He was a specialist when he completed his military service.
In 1973, during their only class together at Columbus College, Burl was the first person Deb saw as she walked into the room on that first day.
She recalled, “I heard a little voice whispering in my ear, ‘That’s the man you’re going to marry.’”
Three years later, they did.
Courtship
But first, Deb had to get Burl to ask her out.
She “maneuvered” to be seated next to him so they could be lab partners in that psychology class.
“I figured if we could train a rat together, we’d probably do well together,” she said. “The rat was trained, and I prayed for three days he wouldn’t find out I was 17. Well, three days later, we did go out, but as casual acquaintances.”
Their first date was in the now-demolished Columbus Square Mall, where the Columbus Public Library, the Muscogee County Public Education Center, the City Services Center and the Columbus Aquatic Center now stand.
“There was a record store there, and Burley was an excellent guitarist,” Deb said. “We looked at records and talked about different rock groups we enjoyed. We continued to see each other to go out to dinner, go shopping, listen to music together and having a dinner date every Saturday or Sunday. . . . We started off as acquaintances which developed into a friendship and developed into a marriage that has been a match of the most enduring kind.”
Setting the date
Deb had dreamed of an autumn wedding, but Burl convinced her to say yes to the Fourth of July.
“His reasoning was just too perfect,” she said. “It was a trifecta of logic: First, we would always have that day off. Second, it was his, along with our country’s, birthday. Third, if he ever forgot our anniversary, he might as well be dead. I couldn’t argue with that kind of logic.”
And because she grew up as “an Army brat,” Deb said, “it just seemed natural to have our wedding at Fort Benning.”
The preparation
Scheduled for 3 p.m. on a Sunday, the ceremony was in danger of a military conflict: Retired Gen. Omar Bradley, a former Fort Benning commander, would be addressing the troops that day, and his visit would include a service in the Main Post Chapel.
But they figured out a solution.
“We were told that if we did everything in red, white and blue, we would not have to put any decorations or flowers in the chapel,” Deb said. “That suited us just fine.”
On the wedding day, a few minutes before 2 p.m., Deb and her bridesmaids went upstairs in the chapel to start changing into their gowns. They heard someone knock on the door.
Deb opened the door, and two soldiers were there — in colonial uniforms.
The soldiers explained that they had to go through that room to access the belfry and ring the chapel’s bells at 2 p.m.
Deb declared, “We’re getting ready for a wedding in here!”
Turns out, this wasn’t going to be a regular ringing of the bells. One of the soldiers told her that it was part of the nation’s Bicentennial celebration, and it was ordered by the United States president and the Fort Benning commanding general.
Being reared in the military, Deb said, she knew an order was an order. But she warned the soldiers, “I dare one of you to look down here while we’re changing. You won’t like what you’ll get.”
The other soldier shook his head and replied, “No, ma’am. No one’s looking down here, because your daddy is right outside the door.”
The soldiers did their duty, congratulated the bride and wished her and the bridesmaids a happy Fourth of July. Then someone else knocked on the door.
It was Deb’s father. Time to start the wedding.
The ceremony
As her father walked her down the aisle, Deb first saw Burl waiting at the altar with the minister, Warner Noles. Then she saw the red, white and blue bunting between the railing and the balcony. And she saw the smiling faces of family and friends.
“We had a very simple wedding on a very special day,” she said.
After the ceremony, Deb told Burt he is the only man she knows who lost his independence on Independence Day.
“All these years later,” she said, “we laugh about that.”
Mark Rice, 706-576-6272, @MarkRiceLE.
This story was originally published October 22, 2018 at 12:00 AM.