Photo By Spc. Houston T Graham | Lt. Col. Donald Crawford and Command Sgt. Maj. Bryan Otero, command team of 307th...... read more read more
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Story by: Spc. Houston Graham
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Paratroopers assigned to the 307th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division come together to compete during a unit organization day Aug., 25, at Fort Bragg N.C.Families attended and cheered during competitions; like tug-o-war, water balloon toss, a CrossFit relay race, and many more. Paratroopers showed the camaraderie just as the unit has during the last 100 years, on this day.
According to Col. (Ret.) Robert Melchior, former 307th BEB commander, for decades, the history of the battalion`s founding fathers has been unknown.
“The first time I arrived at this battalion, in 1975, there were no pictures of our World War One commanders, only names,” said Melchior. “With the one-hundredth anniversary of WWI, it appeared to me that it may be time to see if we [can] find some descendants of our first commanders and maybe even get a picture of them.”
After a long search, of about eight months, Melchior reached out to Elizabeth Anne Brown, the great niece of Col.(Ret.) Earl Ivan Brown, 307th`s first commander.
Mary was here to attend a photo dedication ceremony in his honor. Upon the battalion`s birth, Aug. 25, 1917, Col. Earl Brown reported to Camp Gordon, Georgia, where he first organized and commanded at that time the 307th Engineer Regiment, 82nd Division.
Brown`s time in the battalion was cut short after only 90 days. He was reassigned to the 317th Engineer Regiment, 92nd Division in Camp Sherman, Ohio.
“It`s incredible after all this time he is still being honored,” said Mary.
Lt. Col. Donald Crawford, current commander of the 307th BEB, says It`s important for an organization to remember their history. An organizational day like this is a great time to come together as a team, as a family and to remember where we came from. It’s leaders from the past that have built our legacy year after year. We took the time and effort to find the photo of our first commander. Hopefully, this photo dedication ceremony teaches the younger generation of junior Paratroopers that it`s important to remember your past.
Crawford also shared how it feels to be the current commander while the battalion is celebrating its first commander — “It’s actually pretty awesome. Me and Col. Brown graduated from WestPoint [100] years apart, so I think it’s great timing and I am very privileged and honored to be in the position during this time.”
| Date Taken: | 08.30.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 08.30.2017 12:56 |
| Story ID: | 246557 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 373 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 307th BEB ‘Snapshots’ 100, by SFC Anthony Hewitt, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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