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FORT MCPHERSON—The Award of the Order of Aaron and Hur, the
highest award of the Chief of Chaplains of the U.S. Army, was recently
presented to Lt. Gen. Lawson Magruder III and his wife, Gloria, members of the
Catholic community, upon their Army retirement.
The award, which is granted only in exceptional cases, is
conferred upon those who have made a significant contribution through active
support of the chaplaincy program Army-wide and to the Army’s ongoing
military religious support mission.
The name comes from the Book of Exodus, where Aaron and Hur
supported Moses’ arms as he held up the staff of God during a battle of
Israel against the Amalekites, giving Israel the victory. The award honors
those exemplary in “supporting the arms” of the chaplaincy.
The Magruders were honored July 1 at the 9:30 a.m. Mass in the
Cantonment Chapel of Fort McPherson.
Col. Donald Taylor, U.S. FORSCOM command chaplain, read the
significance of the award and Col. Harold Cooney, U.S. Army Guard commander,
read the citation, while Chaplain Father Paul Bolton, garrison Catholic pastor,
presented the award to the Magruders on behalf of Chaplain Maj. Gen. Gaylord T.
Gunhus, U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains and head of the Order of Aaron and Hur.
The citation read in part:
“Lieutenant General Lawson W. Magruder III and Mrs. Gloria
Magruder have provided inspiring leadership and served as faithful examples of
the value and importance of free exercise of religion in the lives of soldiers,
soldiers’ families, Department of the Army civilians and retirees
throughout the Army. Since their initial assignment, the Magruders have been
actively involved in the military Catholic community chapel programs. They have
supported chaplains and the entire unit ministry teams with their personal
participation, leadership, and volunteered services. As commander of Fort Polk
(La.) and the Joint Readiness Training Center, Commander, United States Army
South, Commander, Fort Drum (N.Y.) and the 10th Mountain Division (Light), and
Deputy Commander, United States Forces Command, the Magruders could always be
counted on to lead the way in building the spiritual life of the community.
They have been influential in assisting in recruiting efforts with the
Archbishop of Panama and the Archbishop of Atlanta to allow priests to serve in
the Army. Mrs. Magruder has always had a special place in her heart for single
soldiers and young Army families, and she has been instrumental in developing
programs to provide and care for their welfare and improve the quality of their
lives. General and Mrs. Magruder leave enduring personal legacies, throughout
the Army, by which they touched and shaped the lives of countless soldiers,
family members, civilians, and retirees. All of this they have done as
servant-leaders while supporting the highest traditions of the chaplaincy,
‘for God and country.’”
The Magruders, who have served in the Army for 32 years, are
retiring to Austin, Texas, Father Bolton said. They are the parents of three
children.
Father Bolton, who served in Panama for six and a half years, said
that he first met the Magruders in Panama where they served from July 1995 to
1997.
Lt. Gen. Magruder was constantly concerned about and asking him
about the number of Catholic priests serving as chaplains in the Army, Father
Bolton said. “He met with the archbishop of Atlanta concerning this at his
own initiative to see if he could get a release of a priest for the Army from
the archbishop of Atlanta.”
In Panama, when the U.S. Army was leaving and military chapels
were no longer going to be used, he arranged a meeting with the archbishop of
Panama and facilitated the appropriate donation of vestments, altars,
tabernacles and crucifixes to Catholic churches in Panama where they were
needed, Father Bolton said. |
