FORT KNOX, Ky. -- With the newly christened Cadet Command headquarters standing tall behind him, John Sogan looked over what was once a bare strip of grass with pride and accomplishment. Three cannons bearing the names Duty, Honor and Country, point southwestward as if defending the headquarters and the American flag.
Below the cannons, plaques anchored to a brick wall list all of the major conflicts ROTC Cadets have participated in. A quote from President Calvin Coolidge emblazoned at its center of the wall under the ROTC logo sums up its existence: “The nation which forgets its defenders, will itself be forgotten.”
Cadet Park not only is a centerpiece of the new complex that is home to Cadet Command at Fort Knox, it also was a focal point Friday in the ceremony to mark the command’s 25th anniversary.
“You don’t want to forget, and this is so we don’t forget,” Sogan said. “Our current crop of Cadets is out there on the front line, and other Cadets will be. But there is a long heritage behind them pushing them along. Honor the dead; honor those who have come before us. Don’t forget the sacrifices they’ve made. ”
Sogan, who works as Base Realignment and Closure manager for Cadet Command at Knox, spent the better part of two years planning and designing Cadet Park, among his other duties. The park was designed to be bigger and better than the original site at the command’s original headquarters at Fort Monroe, Va.
Sogan said the command was able to bring the history from Fort Monroe and add the memorial wall and a pathway that connects the park to the nearby parade field where graduations for the ROTC-run Leader’s Training Course are held each summer.
History played a role in Friday’s celebration as those attending took a moment to dedicate and formally open the park. A group of second lieutenants dressed in period uniforms stood before the crowds as the history of conflicts noted on each plaque were read.
Some visited the park after the event.
Cadets Michael Dobbs, of Jacksonville State in Alabama, and Eric Moss, of the University of North Alabama, took pictures of each other in front of the ROTC logo on the park’s main wall. They were both at Fort Knox receiving training before taking off Sunday on a three-week cultural awareness trip to Guatemala.
“They can teach you military history in school all day, but to be here is an eye opener,” Dobbs said.
Sgt. Maj. Michael Thompson of Cadet Command’s 1st Brigade said the park offers a relevant link to the history of Cadet Command and the Army.
“As Cadets and other leaders come through Fort Knox, they will come by Cadet Command and they will see how we honor our lieutenants who have been commissioned in the United States Army and the lineage that goes along with being a proud officer and Soldier,” he said.
Sogan said he wanted to honor Cadets and their service as Soldiers in a better way than just a simple plaque. He wants people to be able to come to Cadet Park and understand the ultimate sacrifice young men and women have made over the years.
“We’ve done something that is good and lasting, and it’s something that we can be proud of,” Sogan said. “I’m proud of it.”
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