A Quarter Century Later: nothing but memories remain.

The Barracks. This is from 1988. We were not allowed any walkmans, nor were we allowed any hair...
The Monkey Bars- you had to navigate through them, do 20 pushups, dips, and pull-ups prior to getting into the Mess Hall

Harmony Church- sometime in the mid 1990s after training there had moved to Sand Hill.

I am at Fort Benning, Georgia for the next three weeks. I grew up here. I left home for the very first time, flew in an airplane for the very first time, and went to basic training here. Twenty-five years ago I was standing here, not far away from where I type these words, going to Airborne School.

Since then I have been back several times. It's a sad experience as everything from that time is gone now. Harmony Church is being gutted to build the new Armor School. I drove out there today and found where I spent Basic and AIT. All the buildings are long gone. They were gone sometine in the late 90s. Now, even the concrete pads are gone. The trees bullbozed down, and my company street will soon be not even a asphault trail.

Alpha Company, 9th Battalion, 2nd Infantry. Alpha 9/2. We were in fourth Platoon and my roster number was 412. The barracks were old WWII wooden two story jobs- old even 25 years ago.

Sometimes it seems just like yesterday we were all shamming on a Sunday afternoon in the barracks. I woul be laying under my bunk with my fingers slipped under the springs to hold them up. That way you could sleep and pretend to be tightening the blanket and sheets- you were not allowed on your bunk during the day.

None of us had cameras then. We got them at the end of AIT. I have one photo from that time, of three of my buddies.

I have found a few more photos from a guy who went through in 1988, and have them up above. So similar to my memories, yet jsut a bit different. E 2/2 would have been north up the road from us about a mile. Their area is already gone and new barracks are in their place.

It saddens me to see this change as it makes me feel so so old.

I'll go back out and take a picture of the old site tomorrow, as well as the OCS area.

until later...