About 2,000 soldiers, Air Force, Navy and Marine service members on Fort Gordon celebrated the U.S. Army’s 247th birthday Tuesday morning with a traditional four-mile run and cake.
It was the first such mass celebration since the pandemic.
“It’s really great. It’s a post run, and it was 2019 the last time Fort Gordon had a post run,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Delia Quintero, the top enlisted soldier on Fort Gordon. “It is the 247th year, it stands for 24-7, we are soldiers 24-7, and we stand and support defending the nation 24-7, and we’re ready for the call.”
To beat the record heat, the run started just after daybreak, and at one point on the route, the base’s firefighters opened up a fire hydrant and arced a stream of water and mist over the sweating runners.
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Up front leading the run was Col. James Turinetti IV, the commandant of the U.S. Army Signal School and the chief of the Signal Corps. The last time he led a run was as a captain.
“This is the first time in about 23 years. Since I was a company commander was the last time I ran a formation, and it was a lot smaller than this one,” Turinetti said shortly before he called the runners to attention and began the run.
Foreign liaison officers also joined the run, such as Lt. Col. Nicolas Pierson, an officer in the French Army’s version of the cyber corps.
“It’s a big honor for me to be here. The French and the U.S. Army have a very long and close history,” Pierson said. “Helping them at the creation of the U.S. Army, so very proud to be here 247 years later.”
For example, in downtown Augusta, the Lafayette Center at 985 Broad Street is named after the Marquis de LaFayette, who was a hero of both the American Revolution and the French Revolution.
Tom Clark said he remembers celebrating the Army’s birthday in 1982 on Fort Gordon – just two years after he enlisted.
“I felt the immense energy of the crowd,” Clark said.
He would later come back to Fort Gordon to become the post command sergeant major. Even after he retired, he still is closely associated with the base and ran the Fort Gordon Alliance, a support group for the base. He said the run, the cake, the pausing to remember is an important tradition.
“It’s celebrating the good, the bad, the scar tissue we have on our hearts from service members that we lost,” Clark said.
Joshua B. Good is a staff reporter covering Columbia County and military/veterans’ issues for The Augusta Press. Reach him at joshua@theaugustapress.com
