Dusty Jackman, left, and Ray Gray carry a wreath at the 112th annual memorial service for fallen members of the 6th Cavalry, held Sunday on Barnhardt Circle in Fort Oglethorpe. Other former members of the 6th Cavalry attending the event are Dr. Tom Kunkle, right, and Vincent Cerrato, in the striped shirt.The U.S. Army’s 6th Cavalry carried Virginia Brown through much of her life, even though she never served in the military.
Her father moved the family to Fort Oglethorpe in 1928 when Brown was just 3 so he could serve in the cavalry’s band.
Years later, she would meet her future husband at the unit’s enlisted swimming pool.
And she stood on the side of the road, pregnant with her first child, as she watched her husband and his fellow soldiers roll out of Fort Oglethorpe to a Florida encampment on their way to Europe during World War II.
“I didn’t know if I’d ever see my husband again,” she said.