Posted on Mon, Apr. 21, 2008

Keeneland, patrons honor about 1,000 Fort Knox trainees

By Art Jester

AJESTER@HERALD-LEADER.COM

Matt Goins

Pvt. Sean Maloney, second from right, made a phone call home Sunday, his first in two weeks, at the Windstream phone bank during Military Appreciation Day at Keeneland. The soldiers were not allowed to drink, smoke or bet at the track, but they got a meal voucher. Photo by Matt Goins

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Merriment. Gratitude. Fatalism.

Those were some of the emotions that ran through about 1,000 Army privates from Fort Knox on a four-hour break from basic training Sunday during "Military Day" at Keeneland Race Course.

When the soldiers marched into Keeneland to patriotic music by the Fort Knox Army Band, spectators clapped and offered encouraging words.

"It was really touching," said Pvt. Joe Williams of Griffin, Ga. "I almost cried."

The Army had forbidden these trainees from betting, drinking and smoking on the trip, but no matter. For them, it was enough to lap up ice cream, candy and soft drinks -- treats that aren't on the menu during "basics."

The Army gave the soldiers a $10 meal voucher. Pvt. Quarantus Robinson of Monroe, La., made the most of his and then some. He chowed down on two hot dogs, potato chips, ice cream, soft drinks, chicken tenders and French fries.

But two other parts of the visit were probably the most memorable.

The first was a bank of 50 phones provided by Windstream. The young soldiers could call free of charge anywhere in the world to talk with family and loved ones. During basics, they were allowed only one or two calls home.

The line to get to a phone was long for much of the day. The time limit was officially five minutes, but most soldiers got to talk for 10 to 15 minutes.

"I had one kid who got off the phone and was in tears," said Vicki Seale, one of the United Way of the Bluegrass volunteers who staffed the phone bank.

"One guy said he got to talk to all eight of his kids," she said.

Soldiers could be seen in many other locations making free calls on cell phones they were offered by Keeneland patrons and staff and United Way volunteers.

"That's the least you can do," said Bob Robinson, Keeneland's telecommunications administrator and a Vietnam War veteran. "That's absolutely nothing compared with what they're doing."

What they're doing in basics is being trained in 20 military occupations, including intelligence, mechanics, cavalry scouts, human resources and communications, said Lt. Col. Matthew Coleman of the 2nd Battalion, 46th Infantry, a 20-year veteran originally from Beaufort, S.C.

He praised the soldiers for their "courage and sense of duty" during wartime, and said that 95 percent of the trainees at Fort Knox graduate from basics to go into active duty.

Some will be sent to Iraq.

"It'll be exciting and scary," said Pvt. Jeff Craft of Anaheim, Calif. "You'll be shot at and you could be blown up."

Williams knows something about the human cost of war.

Last year, his cousin, Lance Cpl. Jeffery Walter, also from Griffin, Ga., called home to wish his mother a happy Mother's Day. Shortly afterward, Walter was shot and killed by an enemy sniper.

Williams said his half-brother, Pvt. Jonathan Alford, was in basic training at Fort Sill, Okla.

"I'm not too worried" about what could occur in combat, Williams said. "I've got to face the facts."

The awareness that some might not return from Iraq alive was apparent in a marching "jody" tune as the soldiers left the paddock for the bus ride back to their base:

If I die while I am gone

Box me up and ship me home

Pin my medals on my chest

Tell my Mom I did my best

The crowd around the paddock honored them with more than 10 minutes of sustained applause.

Craft spoke for many, if not all, of the soldiers when he said they won't forget the response they got at Keeneland.

"It was pretty incredible, people being so supportive and appreciative," he said.

Whitney Smith of Corbin wept as the troops marched out.

She said no relative of hers had been killed in war, but "my family is military across the board."

Something about the trainees' courage in the face of the unknown touched Smith.

"I just started crying, knowing that could have been a member of my family," she said.

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