Colonel Gregory Fontenot to Speak at Cantigny

The First Division Museum at Cantigny Park welcomes Colonel Gregory Fontenot, U.S. Army (Ret.), on Wednesday, November 1. He will discuss “The 1st Infantry Division and the U.S. Army Transformed,” a narrative history of the “Big Red One” from 1970 through the Operation Desert Storm victory celebration in 1991.
Published in June and coinciding with the 100th anniversary of 1st Infantry Division’s formation, Fontenot’s book closes a gap in the historiography of the late Cold War U.S. Army and is crucial for understanding the current situation in the Middle East.

The author commanded a tank battalion in Operation Desert Storm and an armor brigade in Bosnia. A former director of the School of Advanced Military Studies and the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies, Fontenot is the co-author of “On Point: The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom.” He is a Distinguished Military Graduate of Kansas State University, commissioned in 1971 as an armor officer.

Doors open at 6:30 pm on November 1. Copies of “The 1st Infantry Division and the U.S. Army Transformed” will be available for sale and a book signing will follow the program. Le Jardin will offer a cash bar and limited food menu. Coffee is complimentary.

This event is part of the First Division Museum’s Date with History, a monthly series featuring lively discussions with authors, panelists, historians and special guests. Information about upcoming programs is online at fdmuseum.org.