Author discusses the 1st Infantry Division history 1970-91

Retired U.S. Army Col. Gregory Fontenot will visit Cantigny Park on Nov. 1 to discuss his book "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.

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

Fontenot's history, published in June and coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the 1st Infantry Division's formation, 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."

A Distinguished Military Graduate of Kansas State University, he was 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.

The 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 upcoming programs is online at fdmuseum.org.