Fort Stewart Ceremonial Site Name Change / Coastal Georgia Military Support Honor
On May 20th, in a 10:00 AM ceremony, Fort Stewart’s Marne Garden will officially be renamed Cashe Garden. This change is being made to honor the sacrifice and the memory of Sergeant First Class Alyn Cashe, who perished in combat back in 2005, while heroically rescuing his soldiers after their vehicle hit an IED and burst into flames. Despite accumulating burns to 70% of his body, which ultimately took his life, SFC Cashe resisted medical attention and persisted in helping his guys to safety. Originally awarded the Silver Star (posthumously), over the ensuing years, friends and political leaders continued to push for his award to be upgraded to the Medal of Honor. That designation was finally approved earlier this year (see 1-12-21 post on this site). SFC Cashe was the first Black American service member to receive the Medal of Honor in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Fort Stewart’s headquarters ceremonial site on Post will now permanently honor the courage and ultimate selfless sacrifice of this great American soldier.
Next, an honor for Coastal Georgia. The Coastal Region (Liberty, Bryan, Chatham, & Effingham Counties) has been designated as a GREAT AMERICAN DEFENSE COMMUNITY. This truly is an honor, as only five “communities” across America have received this designation for 2021. And ours is the only Army ‘community’ so named this year. The principal designees locally are, of course, Hinesville, with its distinguished Third Infantry Division, and Savannah, with Hunter Army Airfield’s ‘power projection’ capability & multi-branch component units, along with the 165th GA Guard Airlift Wing and its co-located GA Guard Air Dominance Center out at the Municipal airport. With numerous military active-duty, guard, and reserve members, plus a large number of military veterans, residing also in both Bryan and Effingham Counties, it’s only natural to include them within our honored “community” region.
No question, the award is the direct result of this area’s open-arms welcome and legendary continuing strong support for our military, from individuals, organizations, companies, and our surrounding community groups, as well. We are blessed to have all five military branches represented within Greater Savannah alone (Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, & Coast Guard), trained, equipped, and at the ready to defend our nation and our freedom, whenever and wherever called. Congratulations to the residents of Coastal Georgia for this earned, and well deserved, designation as a GREAT AMERICAN DEFENSE COMMUNITY !