FORT BENNINNG, GA. — When the Chief of Infantry learned through Facebook that the Soldiers of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment would graduate from basic training April 11, he sent word to the command team that he would be the keynote speaker.

“I want you to know that nobody asked me to speak today. No one invited me. I called and said, ‘I’m your speaker for the 11 April Turning Green ceremony’,” Kiniery told the crowd gathered on Pomeroy Field at Fort Benning, GA. “This is the most important event on my calendar in a week that is jampacked with important events.”

It was also the “first most important event” in the lives of the Soldiers standing before them in formation, Kiniery said. The Turning Green ceremony marked their successful completion of basic training. April 14 they will start Infantry Training, the second and final phase of One Station Unit Training.

“Turning Green is a significant rite of passage and the first milestone in a life full of meaningful milestones,” Kiniery said. “You’ll always remember this day and this date … the day you became an American Soldier.”

But the Chief of Infantry, who also serves as the Infantry School Commandant, had another date on his mind today, a day and a date he will never forget.

June 6, 2007

“When I think of June 6, I think of a great American Soldier who died on that day when an IED exploded in As Sadah, Iraq. Staff Sergeant Timothy Cole … with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment,” he said. “I was a troop commander in that squadron, and I’ll never forget that day, and I’ll never forget that Soldier.”

In 2007, Timothy Cole was a 28-year-old husband, father, a former Marine, and a U.S. Army Cavalry Scout with three combat tours under his belt. He also had twin daughters and a 1-year-old son back home in Louisiana.

Just three months before his death, Staff Sgt. Cole earned a Bronze Star with Valor after saving a paratrooper’s life and holding off a much larger enemy element until reinforcements arrived and the wounded Soldier was medevacked. In doing so, he moved from his covered position to provide suppressive fire and exposed himself to the enemy, a decision that could have cost him his life.

He acted “with complete disregard for his own safety,” Kiniery said.

“We know he saved one paratrooper’s life that day, and we’ll never know the number of injuries or deaths he prevented by acting quickly, decisively and courageously,” Kiniery said.

His goal, in inviting himself to speak at the Turning Green ceremony, was to “honor an honorable man,” Kiniery said, “to share his legacy in hopes it will inspire you all … and to welcome his son to the ranks of the United States Army.

I want Private Cole to know his father’s legacy lives, and today it lives on in him.”

Nineteen-year-old Kross Cole was standing on the front line of Bravo Company’s First Platoon when he heard Kiniery speak his father’s name. He “just about lost it” when he heard his own.

“I realized he was talking about my dad, and then he was talking directly to me. My drill sergeant said, ‘Keep it together, Cole,’ and that’s the only thing that kept me from crying,” he said.

“I was just so proud. I didn’t know (dad) was a Cav scout. I didn’t know all the details about what happened that day. When I heard that, it made me think I’ve got to try to be just as good if I’m going to fill his shoes.”

Staff Sgt. Cole’s twin daughters are both Marines, said Kross, who chose the Army Infantry because he wanted a challenge. He believes the next 13 weeks of Infantry training is just the start.

That’s the kind of attitude that distinguished his father, Kiniery said.

“Staff Sergeant Cole trained relentlessly, fought hard, and he wouldn’t quit,” he said. “That ethic shaped his life, and as a result, he became the kind of Soldier who motivated others to train hard, work hard, and go hard.

“I want Private Cole and every member of this company to understand why we do what we do,” Kiniery said. “We train relentlessly. We fight hard. We don’t quit. We do this to create men and women of valor … Soldiers who act calmly and decisively under extreme pressure.

“We do this to become more like Staff Sergeant Cole — selfless and brave.”