Infantry Center employee killed in hit-and-run

By Bridgett Siter/The Bayonet

FORT BENNING, Ga. (TRADOC News Service, Sept. 10, 2004) – A hit-and-run driver killed Robert McCord, a retired sergeant major and employee in the Infantry Center’s Directorate of Combat Developments, Sept. 4 while he was running along Whitesville Road in Columbus, Ga. The driver has not been found.

The 48-year-old McCord, who served as the garrison sergeant major before retiring in January, was doing PT shortly after 7 a.m. to prepare for the Army 10-Miler in Washington, D.C., next month. He was struck from behind as he crossed the bridge over J.R. Allen Parkway.

Monique Frushon said her mother, Gisela, and her stepfather settled in Columbus after his retirement because he was active in local organizations, like House of Heroes and the Sergeant Major Association. The couple had developed a support system here.

"This was a comfortable place for them,” Frushon said. “They thought it was a safe place.”

Frushon said the family is struggling to deal with the loss of a man devoted to his family and always ready and willing to help wherever help was needed.

“He was there for us,” Frushon said. “He was there for anyone who needed him.”

McCord, a 30-year Army veteran, was a senior program analyst with SYColeman in DCD. Before that, as Fort Benning’s garrison sergeant major, he worked closely with Chuck Walls, the garrison manager.

“I’m still not sure I’ve accepted the fact he’s not going to pop in any minute with a big smile on his face. He was always smiling,” Walls said, and he recalled McCord’s involvement two years ago with the House of Heroes program.

“That’s the kind of person he was,” Walls said. “He made life so much better for other people. I realize I was just lucky to work with a guy like him.”

McCord was working toward a master’s degree in business administration.

"It’s still so unbelievable to us. He had so many plans. He was always busy,” Frushon said.

McCord enjoyed working in his yard. He’d recently installed a sprinkler system and a stone walkway. And he was building a Lamborghini “in his spare time.”

A memorial service with full military honors took place Sept. 9 at Vance Memorial Chapel in Phenix City. The family plans to inter McCord’s ashes in Arlington National Cemetery.

Survivors include his wife, Gisela; stepdaughters, Frushon and Patricia Perry; grandson, Ian Frushon, 11; and parents, Robert and Barbara McCord.

Columbus police officials are looking for information about the driver of the vehicle that struck McCord.

"We know the vehicle is missing a headlight,” said Columbus Police Officer Rosalyn Hall in a news report Sept. 5. “Somebody out there knows something.”