FORT LEE, Va. (Jan. 20, 2011) -- Fort Lee celebrated the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and recognized the efforts of several installation employees during a ceremony Jan. 13 at Memorial Chapel.
The event was the third combined celebration here, and it included the 21st annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Observance, 12th Equal Opportunity Leadership Award Ceremony and the 19th annual Equal Employment Opportunity Awards Ceremony.
The guest speaker for the MLK observance was retired Chaplain (Col.) James E. Walker, who served as Fort Lee's installation chaplain before his retirement last year.
Walker spoke to the crowd about King's life and described the civil rights leader as a 20th century prophet. He reminded the audience that many prophets of the past were not popular during their lifetime.
"Prophets have dreams and visions, and people have difficulties with that," said Walker. "Dr. King had a dream ... he was only reminding the nation that we needed to live up to what we already knew and what the founding fathers of this republic had already written."
Emphasizing the importance of equality for all, Walker said America is a diverse nation with diverse people.
"We come from different backgrounds, different areas of the country, different racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds - we have Soldiers who were born in other countries," he said. "We're not a melting pot, we're like a fruit cocktail. We're distinctive and complementary to each other."
Keeping diversity at the forefront of the event, the EO and EEO staffs took the stage to begin the awards ceremony.
Brig. Gen. Edward F. Dorman, Transportation School commandant, handed out the awards and reminded the audience how important diversity is to the military.
"Diversity is about strength," he said. "I see it every day - it's only through that strength of diversity ... that we're able to embrace decisions we need to make to be successful."
Equal Opportunity
EO Leader of the Year - Sgt. Daniel J. Mulford, 217th Military Police Detachment
Equal Employment Opportunity
EEO Employee of the Year - Marshall E. Ford, Quartermaster School
Special Emphasis Program Committee Member - Marilyn J. EnosUptheGrove, 23th QM Brigade
EEO Counselor of the Year - LaShonda A. Easton, Military Entrance Processing Station
EEO Outstanding Employee with a Disability - Sherry Kidd, CASCOM
Supervisors of the Year - Larry Toler, QM School; and Albert Williams, U.S. Army Garrison, Fort Lee
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