Veteran spreads awareness on National Army Museum

MILLBROOK — Bill Augerson, who has been in and out of Millbrook for 60 years, has dedicated his working career to science and military service. Now in his retirement, he is devoted to promoting a new museum that showcases the history of the U.S. Army.Augerson began his military career with the U.S. Navy in 1945, serving in the Pacific during the end of World War II and the Bikini nuclear test. He left the Navy in 1946 and was commissioned in the U.S. Army in 1951, beginning active duty in 1955. He worked as a general practicioner, flight surgeon and internal medicine specialist.Augerson has earned a number of awards, including the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Combat Medical Badge, Master Flight Surgeon wings, Parachutist and Free Fall Parachutist wings and five air medals. Augerson retired from the military service as a major general. He is now coming forward to raise awareness of the Army’s history. “The Army is America’s Army; without it we wouldn’t have a country or might have lost it,” said Augerson. “People tend to think about the Army only by focusing on the all the wars the country has been in, which is a big part of the Army’s history. However, through the years the Army has done a great deal in building the development of this country.”Augerson is now speaking out about a new museum being built to help preserve the United States Army’s history. The National Museum of the United States Army’s anticipated completion is 2015 and will be located at Fort Belvoir, Va., outside of Washington, DC. The museum is being built through The Army Historical Foundation, and is set to become the United States Army’s national landmark. “It will serve as a landmark to celebrate the contributions of the 30 million men and women who have served in the Army,” said Augerson. “It’s intended to be a lively museum. They will have it set up so it seems virtually real.”Augerson said that the museum will be designed to have educational programs, preserve Army history, honor Army values and pay tribute to 14 generations of soldiers. The museum will have a section that tells individual stories, space for living history re-enactments and public performances, an amphitheater and a memorial walk to honor soldiers. In addition to educating its visitors, the museum will also be a place for unit reunions with meeting rooms. Augerson settled in Millbrook in 1996 with his wife, Virginia Benham. He hopes to get the Millbrook community and other areas aware of the national landmark for all the men and women who were a part of the Army to help preserve their history.“We aren’t very strong on history in this country,” said Augerson. “My personal view is if you don’t have any sense of how you got where you are, it’s a little hard to figure out where you are going. For me, history is important. The museum is a way to bring things together to remember who we are as a people and what the Army has done.”