FORT BENNING GA - PVT Scott Eberhardt learned basic Infantry tasks such as marksmanship during 14 weeks of one station unit training but upon graduation, the things he claimed to have learned were less tangible. He learned patience, honor, loyalty - "the Army values really," he said.
Eberhardt was one of more than 200 Soldiers in F Company, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, who graduated June 19 on the Parade Field next to the new National Infantry Museum at the 200-acre Patriot Park.
"I think I've grown up a lot," said Eberhardt, reflecting on the 14 weeks of basic training. "Basically, you have to be a good person to be able to fight for somebody who you don't even know. In the end, it's all worth it. I'm going to be part of something huge - the Infantry, fighting for our country, the Army. We're part of this museum now."
The Soldiers graduated in front of a particularly large crowd - more than 2,000, including GEN(R) Colin Powell, Senator Saxby Chambliss, Congressman Sanford Bishop, LTG(R) Hal Moore and CSM(R) Basil Plumley - attending for the opening of the National Infantry Museum.
When SFC(R) James Godfrey left his home in Alabama at 3:15 a.m. to drive more than 150 miles to Fort Benning, he didn't know the grand opening would include an Infantry graduation, but when he found that it did, he made sure he got a good seat, he said.
"I was glad to see it. It makes me proud," said the former Infantryman of 20 years and Vietnam veteran. "You have to be disciplined, you have to have leadership, and you have to learn to follow before you lead; it is what makes a successful Soldier. I hope they succeed."
Some of the new Soldiers may even be honored one day in the National Infantry Museum that they graduated next to, Godfrey said.
"In years to come, some of those 200 we saw graduate will go on to become first sergeants, some of them will go through Officer Candidate School and might become colonels," he said. "There will be some from the 200 we saw who will go to Iraq and Afghanistan and be involved in battles that will go down in history. They're going to continue the story."
The new graduates will be expected to live up to the standards set by the brave Infantrymen who came before them, said MG Michael Barbero, former Fort Benning commanding general and keynote speaker for the graduation.
"Today, you are joining the same fraternity as those Soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy, hunted the enemy in the Ia Drang Valley, parachuted into Panama and who are currently securing Iraq and carrying the fight in Afghanistan," he said.
Barbero advised the troops to stay alert and aggressive and to watch out for each other.
"The life of an Infantryman is not easy, but when push comes to shove, there isn't a more feared weapon in our military arsenal than steely-eyed warriors like you - American Infantrymen with boots on the ground, ready to take the last 100 yards and close with the enemy," he said. "That is why you did all of those push-ups and why you'll do thousands more. It's why you ran all of those miles and why you'll run many more. ... It's why you can take that rifle apart and reassemble it in the dark. It's why your parents can see the change in you simply by the way you stand."
The graduation included a Special Patrol Insertion and Extraction systems, or SPIES, demonstration, an air assault demonstration and a demonstration by the Silver Wings, the post command exhibition parachute demonstration team. Following the graduation, there was a ribbon cutting ceremony for the National Infantry Museum, which then opened to the public.
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