Legal side of the Army has strong, important place on very special post

I was in a military police unit of ROTC beginning my sophomore year while an undergraduate at Stetson University. When I graduated, I transferred to the University of Georgia to complete my law degree.

I then joined Georgia’s Infantry ROTC. When I graduated from law school and received my law degree, I was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry and immediately assigned to Fort Benning for my 17-week basic infantry officers course.

I had married my Polly while at law school and we had our oldest son during that time. When we moved toFort Benning we rented a very small apartment in the Camelia Apartments at the gates to the post to which so many like us were moving . Most of us had very little and being “in the same boat” we quickly formed new friendships, one of which I have kept to this day despite our separation upon completion of the course.

At the end of BIOC, my company gathered in front of our barracks to hear where our duty assignments would be. Although the shooting in Korea had ended, the majority of my company was sent to the Far Eastern Command and had to leave their families. (I had decided to remain an infantry officer rather than seek an appointment to the Judge Advocate General’s Corp)

The head of the lower legal office at the School Brigade was also the football coach, so he prevailed on the commanding officer to request that two of us who were lawyers and seven Southeastern Conference football players, be assigned to the School Brigade at Fort Benning and, blessedly, we were and remained there until the end of our two-year obligation.

It is difficult to describe fully what my tour at Fort Benning meant to me and my family. My second son was born here. We attended an Episcopal Church on post, St. Michael’s in the Woods, I believe, where my oldest son was baptized. I was a claim officer and usually defended special courts martial. In those days, at least, it was difficult to win these cases. In fact, when I walked by the post stockade, many of my former “clients” would come to the fence and greet me.

The post offered so much and everyone I was in contact with, from the top down, was so good to me and my family and I had so much respect for them. One of my friends was Pete Rademacher, a wonderful man who, after I began my law practice in Columbus, became my client. Pete was an Olympic gold medal winner in the heavyweight boxer division, who fought his first professional fight against Floyd Patterson for the heavyweight championship of the world.

Being stationed at Fort Benning gave us the opportunity to raise our children and for me to practice law in Columbus, just the size town we wanted.

As I write this tribute to Fort Benning, I am feeling embarrassed. I probably shouldn’t have agreed to write this to be compared to what other seasoned veterans may write about hardship tours and combat while my tour was idyllic compared to them. No one ever shot at me.

Even so, I must say that I was, and am, so proud of my service as an infantryman at Fort Benning. After I got out of the Army, I learned that even I could stand when veterans were recognized. This pride and gratefulness caused me to join the first volunteers to be trained before the National Infantry Museum was opened. Even now, nine years later, I am still privileged and proud to take educational tours at the museum.

Bill Scrantom is a Columbus attorney who was an infantryman at Fort Benning. He was one of the original volunteers at the National Infantry Museum.

This story was originally published October 22, 2018 at 2:33 PM with the headline "Legal side of the Army has strong, important place on very special post."