Photo By Chuck Cannon | Brig. Gen. Patrick D. Frank, commander, Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk,...... read more read more
FORT POLK, La. — Hundreds of area residents
lined Leesville’s Third Street to show their
appreciation to the Soldiers of Fort Polk during a
parade that recalled a similar event that occurred
on the same street during World War II on March
10, 1943.
“This is a very important day for the Joint
Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk,” Brig.
Gen. Patrick D. Frank, commanding general,
JRTC and Fort Polk, said. “The mayor and leaders
from around the region came to me and said
we would like to have an appreciation event for
the 8,000 Soldiers that make up the Joint Readiness
Training Center and Fort Polk. We said that
is an outstanding idea. Let’s recreate the 1943 parade
that happened right down this street in
front of us.”
More than 600 Soldiers participated in the parade
that ran the length of Third Street and ended
at the Veterans of Foreign Wars building
where the Soldiers and their Families were treated
to a meal. Signs of patriotism were abundant
as American flags and red, white and blue beads
were passed out to the crowd.
The Military Affairs Committee of the Vernon
Parish Chamber of Commerce hosted the event
that included a breakfast for local and Fort Polk
leaders.
Frank was one of three guest speakers during
a pre-parade press conference on the lawn of the
Old Court House in downtown Leesville attended
by local media. Leesville Mayor Rick Allen
spoke first and said Vernon Parish had finally accomplished
what it has wanted to do for years —
blur the line between Fort Polk and Leesville.
“Now everyone understands that when it benefits
Fort Polk, it benefits Louisiana, and when it
hurts Fort Polk, it hurts Louisiana,” Allen said. I
think we’re in a great position.”
Allen introduced Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy
Nungesser, the next speaker. Nungesser thanked
the Soldiers and Families of Fort Polk for their
sacrifice.
“I have a great appreciation for our military,
and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be today than
here to celebrate the men and women coming
home, that have given up their time away from
their Families so we could be with ours in freedom,”
Nungesser said.
The lieutenant governor pledged to “do everything
in my power every day I’m lieutenant governor”
to support Fort Polk’s Soldiers and Families.
“It’s an honor to be here to welcome home our
heroes,” he said. “There is nowhere else I’d
rather be today than here.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, Louisiana’s Fourth
Congressional District, was next to take the podium
and said he had been looking forward to the
parade for some time.
“It’s a great reminder of the valor and sacrifices
of all our troops,” he said. “I want to thank
Vernon Parish and the City of Leesville for all
they do for our troops.
Johnson said the Vernon Parish community is
known in Washington as a friendly, hospitable
place for Soldiers and their Families.
“That means a lot to the Pentagon, the members
of Congress and our commander in chief,”
he said. “We like to say this is the best hometown
in the Army, and this is the reason for it.”
Frank was the final speaker and spoke about
how the day’s events continued a tradition begun
on that March day in 1943. He said the bank
building across Third Street from the Old Court
House, is the same building in an historic portrait
that sits in Fort Polk’s headquarters building.
“I walk by it (portrait) each day,” he said.
“We’re going to recreate that piece of history and
tradition today, as the Soldiers march down this
street as they did in the 1943 parade. That’s the
connection between Leesville, Vernon Parish and
Fort Polk. Those Soldiers were in the midst of
World War II, our Soldiers today, 3rd Brigade,
10th Mountain Division, are just coming back
from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.”
But Frank said today’s parade was not just for
those Soldiers returning home.
“There are 8,000 Soldiers assigned to Fort
Polk,” he said. “They have a very important mission:
We train the U.S. Army at Fort Polk. We insure
that those infantry brigade combat teams
are well trained at the training center, and that
they go into theatre and combat the most prepared
that the U.S. Army can get them.”
While that is important, Frank said the day’s
festivities were about the connection between
Fort Polk and the local community.
“Our Soldiers live in your neighborhoods,
they go to your churches, their children go to
your schools, they shop in your communities,”
he said. “You welcome them with open arms.”
Frank said that although there is a fence surrounding
Fort Polk, “We’d like to think that fence
is not there, that it’s seamless, between Vernon
Parish and Fort Polk, and that we’re all neighbors
here together inside of Vernon Parish.
Thank you for inviting us here today, we look
forward to celebrating the relationship between
Leesville, the surrounding communities and Fort
Polk.”
During a question and answer session following
the press conference, Frank was asked what
made an assignment at Fort Polk special.
“The other day I had a photograph that I
showed to the staff and some of the commanders,
that was taken on my iPhone up along the
highway heading back into the fort,” he said. “It
was a picture of all the flags that were along the
median, that start out at Fort Polk and run all the
way through the City of Leesville, and stretch
out toward Anacoco and beyond. (Anacoco)
Mayor (Keith) Lewing told me today how he was
fighting with the Department of Transportation
to keep those flags out for another weekend, because
of what it means to the people around this
area.”
It’s those values, Frank said, that make an assignment
at Fort Polk special.
“We talk to our Soldiers every day about
Army values,” he said. “It’s what makes us the
best Army in the world. There’s an intersection
in this area of Army values and Louisiana values.
They are small town values; that’s the way people
are raised here, it’s what they believe in, and
that is why you see those American flags along
the roads.”
But that’s not all, Frank said.
“Having the privilege to lead Soldiers at Fort
Polk is the greatest honor that I’ve ever had,” he
said.
“Fort Polk is the crown jewel of the Army. It’s
a combat training center for the U.S. Army, and
when you talk about all the other units that we
have that have a globally deployable mission,
there is no greater responsibility than to be able
to serve with those Soldiers every day. It’s my
honor to do that. Today is a great opportunity for
us to give back to the local community.”
| Date Taken: | 07.20.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 07.23.2018 09:31 |
| Story ID: | 285301 |
| Location: | FORT POLK, LA, US |
| Web Views: | 86 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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