- This morning, we are witness to history as we continue
tradition within the 82nd Airborne Division.
The All American Hall of Fame commemorates those members
of this division who have achieved the highest distinction
through acts of combat valor, those leaders who have
ushered in revolutionary change within the division,
and members os the All American division who have had
significant impact to American society
beyond their time in the division.
Earlier this year,
brigade command teams submitted nominations
to the All American Hall of Fame selection committee,
a panel of senior leaders currently serving
within the division.
The selection committee voted on each member.
What emerged from that process is 16 inductees
into the class of 2019.
To be eligible for induction into the
All American Hall of Fame,
members must have a minimum of two years
of service within the division,
must be a minimum of two years removed
from service within the division,
and must no longer be eligible
for service within the division.
Ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome our host for today's ceremony,
All American Six, Major General James J. Mingus.
(audience applauding)
- Well how's everybody doing today?
- [Audience] Hooah!
- Welcome to everybody, our distinguished guests,
family, friends, and the troopers that are out there.
What an amazing day it's been, an amazing week,
and this is just gonna be a small part,
but a significant part,
of what we're gonna celebrate this week.
Let's give the chorus another round of applause.
(audience applauding)
We like to brag on the chorus just a little bit,
but I gotta tell a funny story.
They were, I can't remember if it was coming home
from one of the NBA events or the Daytona 500,
but there were in the airport,
and it was a typical day in an airport.
I won't say which one, but it was backed up.
The lines were long; people were frustrated.
People were getting angry.
You may have seen this on YouTube; it went viral,
but it was just one of those chaotic days
at a certain gate in the airport.
Well, the chorus decided to kinda take it upon themselves,
and they just started to sing, and before long,
the entire demeanor and everything about
that particular gate completely changed,
and so my hat's off to the chorus
for being great ambassadors for this division.
(audience applauding)
Well this is our second year.
Last year, we inducted 20.
This year, as illustrated just a few minutes ago, was 16.
You met Brian, our new chaplain,
who's been in the job about two, three weeks now,
and about a week ago,
I sat down with Brian and said look, for this,
I hate to say this, but we do have some folks
that are getting up there in age,
so overcast, a little bit of breeze, about 80 degrees
would be perfect for this particular day.
(audience laughing)
Well Brian, you pulled it off.
(audience applauding)
Now here's the kicker though.
Tomorrow, we got an airborne operation,
so I said Brian, clear skies, 75 degrees
and two knots of winds.
So you gonna pull that one off?
(audience laughing) Alright.
So what is the significance of a hall of fame?
The greatest professional athletes
reach the pinnacle of their post-professional career
through induction into the hall of fame.
From Cooperstown to Canton, from Toronto to Springfield,
the busts of the world's greatest athletes are immortalized.
Selection into each hall of fame is subjective,
determined by a select group of men and women.
Criteria ranges from statistical achievements,
championships won, longevity.
Conversely, factors such as toxic personality
or accusations of cheating can prevent players
with the greatest statistical achievements
from gaining entrance.
What if the United States military
established a hall of fame?
Who would gain entrance?
Who would be a part of the initial class of inductee,
and what would be the location of the hall of fame?
It would no doubt have names like Washington,
Grant, Pershing, Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton,
York, Ridgeway, Gavin.
Well guess what?
Three of 'em, if you walk nextdoor,
and I encourage you all to do that,
three of those are in the 82nd Hall of Fame.
So this is what the internal piece
to the 82nd has been,
and my hat's off to General Kurilla
who started this last year.
I think it's a great tradition we'll keep on for the future,
but it gives us the opportunity on any given day
to walk among heroes.
It gives us an opportunity to reflect on the past,
and it's clearly an inspiration for the future.
We are all students of history,
specifically military history,
and today, we are making history.
It's establishing the legacies
that will forever be enshrined.
So what does inspire us?
Victories, losses, and in some cases,
losses are the greatest inspiration.
Hard achievements, shared hardship, same hardships,
but today, what this is all about is historical legacies.
This year's inductees include World War I, World War II,
Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama,
Desert Shield / Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and Iraq,
and as you'll hear in a few minutes,
several others that I didn't mention.
It ranges from PFC to general
to warrant officer to sergeant major.
These 82nd icons make up the very DNA
of the division's lineage, heroism, and excellence.
It is also embedded in the very fibers
that make up today's paratrooper.
We can all draw an inspiration
from the accomplishments of these inductees.
They were selected based on their service
within the division,
their lifelong commitment to the division's values,
valorous combat action or contributions
to their chosen field outside the division.
We offer our profound congratulation to all our inductees.
We are humbled by your presence.
Thanks again for being here today.
Congratulations, let's begin.
God bless; airborne all the way.
(audience applauding)
- Ladies and gentlemen, we will now recognize our inductees.
Inductees or designated representatives,
as your name is called,
please make your way to the front
and take a seat from left to right.
Command Sergeant Major Joseph R. Allen.
A 13-year All American and career paratrooper,
he distinguished himself as command sergeant major
of the 82nd Airborne Division support command
from 1999 to 2002.
Upholding the unit's readiness during Operations
Allied Force and Joint Guardian while transitioning
its efforts to the post 9/11 period,
Global War on Terror.
From 2006 to 2010, he would be the first sustainer
to hold the position of command sergeant major
of the XVIII Airborne Corps.
Command Sergeant Major Allen.
(audience applauding)
General Lloyd J. Austin.
General Lloyd Austin commanded the 2nd Battalion,
505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division
in combat during Operation Safe Haven, Panama.
He went on the serve as the operations officer
for the 82nd Airborne Division,
served as commanding general for the XVIII Airborne Corps
through Operation Iraqi Freedom
and commander of U.S. forces in Iraq for Operation New Dawn.
General Austin.
(audience applauding)
Major Moffatt T. Burriss.
Major Moffatt Burris led India Company,
504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in combat
during the famed Waal River crossing in 1944.
He's a silver star recipient
and author of the book Strike Hold
chronicling his unit's actions during World War II
with the 82nd Airborne Division.
He later served as a state representative
for South Carolina from 1977 to 1992.
Major Burriss, represented by Mr. Francis Burriss.
(audience applauding)
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Chisolm.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Chisolm was awarded
the Legion of Merit, the only one presented to an enlisted
or non-commissioned officer by the
508th Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II.
He took part of Operation Market Garden in Holland
with the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
He jumped into Normandy with the 3rd Battalion,
508th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
Lieutenant Colonel Chisolm.
(audience applauding)
Lieutenant General George A. Crocker.
Lieutenant General George Crocker commanded
the 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment
and deployed to Grenada as part
of Operation Urgent Fury in 1983.
He commanded the division's 1st Brigade,
deploying to the Honduras in response
to a Nicaraguan incursion
and later served as the division's operations officer
and chief of staff where he supervised the planning
and execution of Operation Just Cause.
Lieutenant General Crocker concluded his time
in the 82nd Airborne Division as the division's
38th commander from 1995 to 1996.
He's a silver star medal recipient and completed his service
as the commanding general for I Corps.
Lieutenant General Crocker.
(audience applauding)
Sergeant First Class Gordon "Duke" Dewey.
Sergeant First Class Gordon "Duke" Dewey served
with distinction, discipline, and professionalism
during the division's short-notice deployments
to support Operation Power Pack and as a part
of Task Force Detroit.
Then Staff Sergeant Dewey also deployed with recon platoon,
1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment
to Vietnam where he organized and trained
the Golden Brigade's long-range reconnaissance patrol team
and was the chief planner for Operation Mott,
a combat operation where the brigade wiped out
the 22nd North Vietnamese Army Regiment.
After his service in the division,
he assisted in founding the Headquarters,
Joint Casualty Resolution Command where he trained
and instructed search and recovery teams
to search for missing Americans in Vietnam.
Sergeant First Class Dewey.
(audience applauding)
Private First Class Robert T. Dodson.
Private First Class Robert Dodson served with distinction
in Charlie Battery, 456th Parachute Field Artillery Battery
in Sicily in 1943.
His heroic actions on Biazza Ridge helped stop
a key German counterattack against the Sicily beach head.
For his heroism as an airborne artilleryman,
he received the silver star medal.
Private First Class Dodson rests in Paris, Arkansas
after later dying from wounds in combat.
Private First Class Dodson.
(audience applauding)
Command Sergeant Major Steven R. England.
Command Sergeant Major Steven England served
as a sergeant major in the 82nd Airborne Division
from 1991 to 2000.
Assigned as operations sergeant major,
4325 Parachute Infantry Regiment
during Operation Desert Storm.
He then went to assume responsibility
as command sergeant major of the
3505th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
then the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment.
He became the 82nd Airborne Division command sergeant major
as the XVIII Airborne Corps command sergeant major,
earning the distinguished service medal.
Command Sergeant Major England.
(audience applauding)
Chaplain Brigadier General Augustus R. Gearhard.
Chaplain Gearhard was commissioned
as an Army chaplain in 1918 and assigned
to the American Expeditionary Forces in France.
He received the distinguished service cross
for his ministry while serving
in the 328th Infantry Regiment.
After World War I, he served for 17 years
in the U.S. Army Reserve at which point,
he transitioned to the U.S. Army Air Force,
serving as the fifth Air Force chaplain
in the South Pacific Theater during World War II.
He received the silver star medal for his ministry.
In August, 1950, after transitioning
to the U.S. Air Force Reserve,
he was appointed the Air Force deputy chief of chaplains.
Chaplain Gearhard represented by Mr. Nick Gearhard.
(audience applauding)
Captain Kimberly Hampton.
Kimberly Hampton embodied the All American spirit,
serving as the Delta Troop commander
for 117th Cavalry Squadron from 2002 to 2004.
An OH-58D Kiowa pilot in command,
Kimberly was the Army's first female combat pilot
killed in action and the first female
in the 82nd Airborne Division to die
from hostile fire in the Global War on Terrorism.
Kimberly was awarded the purple heart, bronze star medal,
and air medal for her actions.
Captain Hampton represented by Mr. Dell Hampton.
(audience applauding)
Lieutenant General James H. Johnson, Jr.
Lieutenant General James Johnson, Jr. served
in the 82nd Airborne Division as a leader at every level.
He was a platoon leader and company commander
in the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment,
commanded the 2nd Battalion,
504th Parachute Infantry Regiment,
commanded the 3rd Brigade for three years
and served as the division chief of staff.
As the deputy commanding general for operations,
then Brigadier General Johnson commanded the Army component
of Operation Golden Pheasant in the Honduras.
As the division commander,
he was the first jumper during the invasion of Panama
in Operation Just Cause.
He also commanded the division
during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm
in the Persian Gulf, becoming the first commander
to lead the division into combat in two separate conflicts.
He commanded the division for 32 months,
the longest command tour since 1948.
Lieutenant General Johnson.
(audience applauding)
Brigadier General Dennis Kerr.
Brigadier General Dennis Kerr served in the division
for eight years.
He is credited with developing the model
for a combat aviation brigade,
activating the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade,
and serving as its first commander
from April, 1987 to August, 1989.
He later served as assistant division commander
from January, 1990 to December, 1991,
ensuring the division's successful deployment
to Saudi Arabia in support of Desert Storm.
He would go on to command the U.S. Army Safety Center,
developing the risk management process which is used
across all military services to this day.
Brigadier General Kerr.
(audience applauding)
General Carl W. Steiner.
General Carl Steiner joined the 82nd Airborne Division
in 1972 where he commanded the 2nd Battalion,
325th Airborne Infantry Regiment.
He would continue his outstanding service to the division
as the assistant chief of staff, G3.
He is also a recipient of the Freedom Foundation Award
and the Distinguished Alumnus Award
from Tennessee Technological University.
Steiner has also been active teaching
the joint warfare fighting course
at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia
and works as the senior advisor
for new joint warfighting experiments.
General Steiner.
(audience applauding)
Major General Reuben H. Tucker.
Major General Reuben Tucker commanded
the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in combat
from 1942 to 1945 in Sicily to Germany,
commanded the 504th during the famed Waal River crossing,
capturing the Nijmegan Bridge.
A distinguished service cross
and silver star medal recipient,
served as commanding general at Fort Dix
and later served as the Commandant of Cadets at The Citadel.
Major General Tucker represented by
Brigadier General retired Chris Tucker.
(audience applauding)
Chief Warrant Officer Johnathan A. Ward.
Chief Warrant Officer Johnathan Ward distinguished
himself with the spearhead of airborne operations
as an original member of the parachute test platoon
and was the Army's first parachute rigger warrant officer.
He served with the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment
throughout World War II in Sicily, Italy,
Nijmegan, the Netherlands, and occupation duty in Berlin.
He continued his service after his time in the Army
on the parachute testing board.
Chief Warrant Officer Ward.
(audience applauding)
Lieutenant General John R. Vines.
Lieutenant General John Vines served as commander,
4th Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment
during its combat parachute assault
in Operation Just Cause and later deployed
with the first ground combat unit
in Operation Desert Shield.
He would later serve as the assistant division commander
for operations, 82nd Airborne Division,
and the commander, 82nd Airborne Division
from August, 2000 until October, 2002
and commander of the U.S. Army's XVIII Airborne Corps
and Multinational Corps, Iraq.
Lieutenant General Vines.
(audience applauding)
Ladies and gentlemen,
please join us in congratulating the 2019 class
of the All American Hall of Fame.
(audience applauding)