FReeper Canteen ~ Road Trip: Fort Benning, Georgia ~ 08 APR 2025

Thanks for the clarification and for the K-9 links. They are so critical to our military!

Hey there, Early Birds!
What a fun Road Trip this has been.
Thanks, lauren, for taking us to Georgia!
Hope everyone has a Terrific Tuesday!
....and has pretty weather today.
(((hugs)))

Fryar Field is 1 (it may be the only 1) of the training jump fields of Ft. Benning. It is in Alabama 3.5 miles SSE from the southern end of the Lawson Field runway.

Thanks for the info. Glad to know about Fryar Field, where the Army Airborne parachute training takes place, although the Airborne School is on the main base in Georgia.

Instead of just going from memory, I had checked Apple Maps before posting about the "straddling" word; and while Apple Maps showed a point called "Fryar Field Family Viewing Area", it did not label it as part of Fort Benning. I went from there to a search engine, which listed Fryar at Fort Mitchell, Alabama! Possibly an administrative consolidation took place, but I have yet to find a specific date when the field was put under the Benning name.

One article said that the earliest parachute trainings before and just after WW2 took place at Lawson airfield on the Georgia base proper, but I could not find a start date for the use of the Alabama field named for hero Elmer Fryar. I did run across a user post by a veteran who said he did five drops at Fryar in 1968, so it must have been built in time for Nam.

My experience with Ft. Benning was in 1969 having to do with my then-husband's ground Infantry training, where I learned about the K-9 training, and in 1972 when I came back to research an article on the dog training for a veterinary research group.

All that aside, if Benning is said to be "straddling", Fryar Field appears to be just "one foot extended out into the water" compared to the size, population, and installations of the main original fort in Georgia. But maybe that's just Apple Maps' pale, barely visible outline.

... Instead of just going from memory, I had checked Apple Maps before posting about the "straddling" word; and while Apple Maps showed a point called "Fryar Field Family Viewing Area", it did not label it as part of Fort Benning. I went from there to a search engine, which listed Fryar at Fort Mitchell, Alabama! ...

per Wikipedia
Fort Mitchell is an unincorporated community in Russell County, Alabama, United States. The settlement developed around a garrisoned fort intended to provide defense for the area during the Creek War (1813–14).[3] Fort Mitchell is about 10 miles south of Phenix City, Alabama and Columbus, Georgia; Fort Benning lies on the opposite side of the Chattahoochee River from Fort Mitchell.

Jump week - 3rd week of Airborne School

Finally, soldiers get to practice their new skills while jumping out of aircraft in flight. The C-130 or C-17 aircraft pick up the paratrooper students in front of the hangar at Lawson Army Airfield. From there it is a very short flight to Fryar Field (commonly referred to as "Fryar Drop Zone"), where all of the training jumps are accomplished.

I grew up in Phenix City between 1955-1965 and travelled with the parents a lot in Columbus and through Ft. Mitchell. Never did get to see a training jump at Ft. Benning, though.

My experience with Ft. Benning was in 1969 having to do with my then-husband's ground Infantry training, where I learned about the K-9 training, and in 1972 when I came back to research an article on the dog training for a veterinary research group.

I was starting high school in the fall of 1969 in the metro-Atlanta area. The draft ended in 1972. I registered with Selective Service in JAN 1973. I don't recall anyone in my high school class talking about Vietnam.

All that aside, if Benning is said to be "straddling", Fryar Field appears to be just "one foot extended out into the water" compared to the size, population, and installations of the main original fort in Georgia.

An accurate description.

I r3member Phenix City and Columbus. At the time, I was fascinated by the way the people’s accent changed just across the river, from the soft drawl of Georgia to the more brisk and rapid twang in Alabama, unless I was imagining things. It must have been a nice place to grow up! Lovely people. I also got over to Auburn U a few times. Beautiful campus, with flying squirrels.

In spite of the huge military compound, both were more or less “sleepy Southern towns” at the time. An array of stores on the main street, some tree-shaded residential streets, areas of light manufacturing or processing, like chickens or peanuts over in Columbus, train tracks running through, a movie theater where the newest released films were months to a year older than in New York or even Atlanta. A few of the streets were still unpaved in Columbus until an election loomed in 1969.

Having grown up in a couple of northern cities, I loved the pace and gentility, and the countryside jaunts among red clay-shouldered roads through farm areas dotted with old graying cabins, little lakes and kudzu-draped trees. Often wish I had bought one of those little shacks on a acre near a lake.

What wonderful memories of your good girl Bonnie! The intelligence, sensitivity and perception of those well-trained dogs is phenomenal. And the loss of such a companion is in some ways worse than most other humans, becuase of their moral innocence and fierce loyalty.

I r3member Phenix City and Columbus. At the time, I was fascinated by the way the people’s accent changed just across the river, from the soft drawl of Georgia to the more brisk and rapid twang in Alabama, unless I was imagining things.

I was too young to pick up accent differences between the 2 towns across the Chattahoochee River from each other. Columbus was bigger, more industrialized, and of course there was Ft. Benning, so I wouldn't be surprised that you heard a difference between the 2. My grandparents were from very rural Barbour County, AL, and very rural Washington County, ME. So I did get to experience that major difference - and I loved it!

It must have been a nice place to grow up! Lovely people. I also got over to Auburn U a few times. Beautiful campus, with flying squirrels.

I thoroughly enjoyed my 1st 10 years there. Our neighborhood was brimming over with children. Wonderful memories of Halloween. Of course segregation was in full effect, so there was a lot I didn't know about. And there was the "Dixie Mafia" in Phenix City - not that I knew anything about it at the time.

Wikip - film, "The Phenix City Story", 1955

In spite of the huge military compound, both were more or less “sleepy Southern towns” at the time. An array of stores on the main street, some tree-shaded residential streets, areas of light manufacturing or processing, like chickens or peanuts over in Columbus, train tracks running through, a movie theater where the newest released films were months to a year older than in New York or even Atlanta. A few of the streets were still unpaved in Columbus until an election loomed in 1969.

The manufacturing in Columbus mostly centered around the cotton textile mills along the bank of the Chattahoochee River. I do recall going to Tom's Peanuts with a vacation bible school group. They treated us well! Of course, the gem of cola beverages was founded in Columbus, Royal Crown Cola.

There were 3 cinemas in downtown Columbus - The Georgia, The Bradley, and The Rialto, and 2 drive-ins - 1 on the northside and the other along Victory Drive leading to Ft. Benning. Went to many, many films there. During my time there, there were only 2 TV stations, ABC and CBS, both Columbus stations. The closest NBC affiliate was in Montgomery, and it could not be picked up clearly.

Having grown up in a couple of northern cities, I loved the pace and gentility, and the countryside jaunts among red clay-shouldered roads through farm areas dotted with old graying cabins, little lakes and kudzu-draped trees. Often wish I had bought one of those little shacks on a acre near a lake.

As a young person, I loved it all, but as a seasoned citizen now, the 6 months of summer humidity and heat I can do without.

BUMP to reply later — time crunch today!

I am proud. She.

And there was the "Dixie Mafia" in Phenix City - not that I knew anything about it at the time. Wikip - film, "The Phenix City Story", 1955

I'm still in crunch time with birthdays and graduations, so the delay in my replying to your post is because I've been trying to find time to look into that Phenix City story, which I also knew nothing about. I put it on a list, however!

I do remember a couple of incidents from that period, 1969, that stood out in terms of racial and class distinctions. Growing pains. The people I hung out with and worked for were very kind and genteel folks, but the invisible wall was up.

Also, it being 1969, I wore a mini skirt to work one day. By today's standards, it was almost a burka-- barely one inch above my kneecap -- but my boss sent me home to change—and I was a respectable married woman, I thought! But when in Rome...

I do recall going to Tom's Peanuts with a vacation bible school group. They treated us well! Of course, the gem of cola beverages was founded in Columbus, Royal Crown Cola.

Ah, yes, “an RC Cola an' a Moon Pie!” That was lunch for some of my co-workers. As for Tom's Peanuts, I had the experience of going out to dinner with several other young couples, and one of the couples was the heir to the Tom's Peanuts business. He was an incredibly rude, foul-mouthed fellow, and very disdainful of all women, including his Southern Magnolia wifey. After about the fifth crude sexual remark towards me, I told him off from head to toe as only a flinty Irish gal from up North can do, and he about fell over! hahahahaha

During my time there, there were only 2 TV stations, ABC and CBS, both Columbus stations. The closest NBC affiliate was in Montgomery, and it could not be picked up clearly.

My husband bombed out of officer training and got reassigned to regular infantry, so as a "grunt" family, we had no money. I was making minimum wage at my job, and grateful for it to be in a clean little office with air conditioning, which we didn't have at home, nor any television, either. We lived for our record player and records. The Beatles, Cream, Moody Blues, etc. And we listened to the local radio.

One thing that was heart-warming for me was hearing the ads for a local business run by a Jewish family, judging by their last name. Just as there was tension in the south between races, I'm guessing there weren't many Jews around Columbus, so they could have been a novelty and not a threat. In the North, I was accustomed to Jews having a very pronounced New York-style accents, and many of the older generation also peppered their conversation with Yiddish words. So to hear (I forget his name, so let's say) "Mr. Goldenblum" advertising his business on the radio in a clear Georgia accent was a great treat! "For th' bes' sayles an' suhviss, y'all come on down to Goldenblums, heah?" Years later, back home up in Pennsylvania at the time, I went to see the movie Driving Miss Daisy, that centered around a southern Jewish woman whose son ran a textile factory. And then it dawned on me, that the enterprising Jewish folks had migrated to the business sector of most cities with industry, including the South.

My husband was Ivy League, but having graduated, he got drafted and could not use student deferrment to avoid reporting. So I had my own moment of discrimination when I tried to get us tickets to the Opera House in Columbus for a performance of a traveling orchestra. The ticket woman, hearing my accent, inquired where I was from, and I told her we were military. Then she asked my husband's rank. When I said "Private first class", she refused to sell me the tickets—"Ah'm vah sahri may'am, we only admit militahrih who are E-5 and above!"

What a shock. Ivy, Schmivy—you ain't nuthin' in Columbus, Jawjah!

All told, it was a valuable life lesson, to have to actually feel a shock of discrimination. It's not that the North was any more enlightened, generally speaking, about racial matters in those days — it was just different. A different brand of hypocrisy. It made me more sensitive to others from then on.

But I rattle on. I appreciate so much a little chat about those long gone days, over 50 years ago. I had a front-row seat to a critical time in our national life. Still remember those car trips down through Dothan, AL to get to Panama City when we had a couple of days leave. In Alabama and Georgia, for the great majority of the time, the people and the way of life made a tough situation very, very pleasant for me.