Task Force Spartan’s remember the dream

2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 11th Airborne Division Public Affairs
Story by Staff Sgt. Jason Epperson

Date: 01.16.2012
Posted: 01.18.2012 03:13
News ID: 82503
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. remembered in Afghanistan

KHOWST PROVINCE, Afghanistan – The 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Task Force Spartan, equal opportunity team hosted a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observance at Forward Operating Base Salerno’s main dining facility, Jan. 16.

After an invocation from U.S. Army Chaplain (Capt.) Logan McCurdy, a native from Blue Springs, Mo., from the 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, U.S. Army Sgt. Kaitlyn A. Ashby of the Indiana National Guard’s 4-19th Agribusiness Development Team sang the national anthem.

The Salerno Gospel Choir then sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by James Weldon Johnson.

U.S. Army Col. Morris Goins, the Task Force Spartan commander, was the guest speaker.

He said, "‘in his humble opinion," that the greatest message Dr. King was giving us was "Change what is harm in the world with knowledge and you will always win."

Goins also cited Dr. King’s use of knowledge as part of what made him a great man.

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Teresa Diggs, the supply non-commissioned officer in charge with 725th Brigade Support Battalion (Airborne), Task Force Centurion, and native of Raleigh, N.C., said the observation was a great way to remember Dr. King’s accomplishments.

“[The observance] brings out the history about where we’ve come from and where we are now. [It’s also] the appreciation of what was done in history to bring us here. It’s been awesome. It’s about Dr. Martin Luther King calling out the documents that were already in place.”

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Daniel L. Rhodes, TF Spartan equal opportunity advisor, narrated the event.

“Conducting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observances teaches people young and old the importance of human rights,” Rhodes said. “That we are all equal regardless of race or color. It shows us how one man with a dream could change the lives of millions of Americans.”