The U.S. Army marks its 251st anniversary June 14.
On June 9, Fort Gordon celebrated the Army’s history through a local lens with an Army heritage program at the Cyber Conference and Catering Center.
Those whose names are commemorated on buildings at the installation were highlighted. Among them Maj. Gen. Blanton Winship, Back, Cpl. Charles Chibitty, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, First Lt. John E. Darling, Lt. Gen. Alfred Mallette, Col. John M. Jones and Spc. Hilda Clayton, an Augusta native, whose family attended the program.
The ceremony also recognized Jack Welsh, a World War II veteran, who joined the Army on D-Day at the age of 17, the same day he graduated high school.
Clayton was 22 when she died while documenting an Afghan National Army mortar validation exercise in support of the 4th Brigade Combat Team 1st Cavalry Division, on July 2, 2013 in Afghanistan. A mortar round malfunctioned and exploded in the tube, killing Clayton and four Afghan nationals.
Her last photograph captured the moment and was published around the world.
Chibitty was a Comanche code talker during World War II. Although he’d been discouraged from using the Comanche language, it and other Native American languages proved to be a secret weapon during the war, saving many lives.
A display prompted people to see if they could break the code.
Fort Gordon’s Army hospital was named after Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who later served as the nation’s 34th president. The mastermind behind the D-Day invasion, Eisenhower went on to develop close ties to the Augusta community through the Augusta National Golf Club and his love of golf. He delivered his final address to the Army in 1961 at Fort Gordon’s Barton Field.
After a parade of soldiers representing the significant figures in Fort Gordon’s history, Retired Brig. Gen. Weldon Chase Jr. spoke more about Augusta’s ties to the military from its pre-Fort Gordon days.
Fort Gordon will continue to pay tribute to its founding with a run and ceremonial cake cutting planned for Friday, June 12.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards, is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award and was named Augusta Magazine’s best local writer in 2024 and 2025. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
