Author to discuss military's 'Big Red One' 1970-91

Retired U.S. Army Col. Gregory Fontenot will visit Cantigny Park's First Division Museum next week to discuss "The 1st Infantry Division and the U.S. Army Transformed," his narrative history of the "Big Red One" from 1970 through the Operation Desert Storm victory celebration in 1991.

The presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 6, inside the Visitors Center at Cantigny Park, 1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Admission and parking are free.

Published last month and coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the 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.

Copies of "The 1st Infantry Division and the U.S. Army Transformed" will be for sale and a book-signing will follow the program. Le Jardin restaurant will offer a cash bar and a limited food menu.

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