Sergeant Major of the Army Kenneth O. Preston's Remarks George Catlett Marshall Memorial Dinner Washington, D.C. October 27, 2004

Army, Dec 2004 by Preston, Kenneth O

This is a great honor tonight, and I accept the George C. Marshall award on behalf of all of our American soldiers.

Gen. Sullivan, to you and all the leadership of the Association of the United States Army from all of us who currently wear or have worn the Army uniform, all of our civilian workforce and all of our families and friends, we are very humbled by this tribute to the American soldier.

Tonight we should honor and pay tribute to the legacy of the American soldier. Before and during our 229-year history as a nation, millions of Americans have worn the uniform of the American soldier.

All of those soldiers who have served, have stories as unique as the towns and cities from where they come-soldiers who come from all across this great country, her territories, and in many cases, other countries, to wear a U.S. Army uniform in her defense.

Tonight, I want to take this opportunity to reflect and share a few stories of the men and women who have served our nation proudly. Some of these stories you may have read or heard about, and some you have not. Some of these are famed stories that have become folklore to our service.

The history of the American soldier transcends officer and enlisted, private and general, man and woman. The history of the American soldier is filled with countless names and stories, adventures and heroes. The stories I'll share with you tonight embody the Soldier's Creed and the Warrior Ethos.

Take Deborah Samson of Plympton, Mass. She epitomized the first paragraph of the Soldier's Creed: "I am an American soldier. I am a warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States of America and live the Army values." In October of 1778, motivated by the burning desire of freedom, Deborah disguised herself as a young man and volunteered for service in the American Army.

She enlisted to serve in the War of Independence under the name of Robert Shirtliffe. Deborah became Robert, and for three years, she served. She was wounded twice. Inevitably, she was found out and discharged from the Army. ...

[Later], congressmen and senators ... sponsored and passed a bill to ensure she was afforded the same pension, lands and benefits provided to the men who served during that war. ... she was asked if she served as a soldier in an. attempt to move forward women's rights.

She stated, "I was heeding the call of freedom. That call goes to both man and woman alike."

The story of the American soldier continues in the spirit of Civil War era 1st Sgt. Powhatan Beaty of the Union Army. First Sgt. Beaty was a member of Company G, 5th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment. First Sgt. Beaty embodied the spirit of the Warrior Ethos, which is the second paragraph of the Soldier's Creed: "I will always place the mission first; I will never accept defeat; I will never quit; and I will never leave a fallen comrade." First Sgt. Beaty took command of his company during a siege at Fort Harrison, Va. With all the company officers dead and while wounded himself, 1st Sgt. Beaty ran more than 600 yards while under intense direct fire to reach his unit colors.

Once he secured the colors, he then organized his unit and led a successful and important raid on this key position. First Sgt. Beaty knew the importance of sacrifice and commitment. For his actions that day, he received our nation's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor-known as an ordinary man, who under extraordinary conditions, was immortalized, a hero.

That same soldier spirit came by a seemingly and most unlikely hero who embodied the third paragraph of the Soldier's Creed: "I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself. I am an expert and a professional."

Born in a log cabin in rural Tennessee in 1887, Sgt. Alvin C. York supplemented his family's subsistence in farming by hunting. Sgt. York became an expert marksman very early in his life. He is quoted as saying he never thought growing up that he would have anything other than possum in his crosshairs. Two months after the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, York was drafted. Soon after, he was deployed overseas, and on October 8,1918, he and 15 other soldiers were dispatched to seize a German-held rail point.

In the fog of war, Sgt. York and his team found themselves deep behind enemy lines. Confronted by a superior enemy force, who were armed with machine guns, half of his team, including his commander, were immediately gunned down. Sgt. York reacted and began picking off the enemy machine gunners one at a time with his carbine. He then individually charged the machine-gun nests. The enemy thought they were outnumbered by the volume of accurate fire, and not knowing what to make of this "crazy man," the enemy commander surrendered. Sgt. York and the remaining six American soldiers took 90 enemy prisoners of war in that one engagement. By the end of that day, Sgt. York had single-handedly taken a total of 132 enemy prisoners.