About Our School

Background Information: Don C. Faith Middle School is located on the Ft. Benning Army Installation at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Students who are enrolled at Faith Middle School are dependents of military personnel at Fort Benning, and the school is funded by the Department of Defense. Faith MS is part of the DoDEA Americas Southeast district under the direction of Dr. Lisa Coleman, Superintendent, and follows the directives, curricula, and guidelines of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). It is one of 5 schools located at Fort Benning and teaches students in 6th - 8th grade.

Faith Middle School PTO maintains a Facebook page for parents to exchange information however it is not a source of official DoDEA information, please refer to our school website for official information. Faith MS PTO Facebook page

Our Namesake - LTC Don C. Faith Jr.

Faith Middle School is named in honor of Lt. Col Don C. Faith, Jr.

Don C. Faith, Jr., was born in Washington, Indiana on August 26th, 1918. As an Army child, the days of his youth were spent in a variety of locations in the United States and abroad. He lived with his family at the Fort from 1932 to 1935 and attended school in Columbus, Georgia during those years. He graduated from high school at Fort Thomas, Kentucky, and went on to Georgetown University in Washington for Foreign Service training.

His ambition to attend the United States Military Academy was thwarted by a dental disqualification, and following the passage of the Selective Service Act, his local draft board turned him down for the same reason. He appealed the decision of the board, won the appeal, and was accepted for enlistment in the Army on June 25th, 1941. He returned to the Fort as on Officer Candidate and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry on February 26th, 1942 .

He was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, first as aide to then Brigadier General Matthew B. Ridgeway, later as a staff officer. He took part in all of the combat jumps made by the division in World War II, and won successive promotions to the grade of Lieutenant Colonel. He was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

Following World War II, Lieutenant Colonel Faith was assigned to the military mission in China. When the mission was withdrawn, he became a battalion commander in the 7th Infantry Division in Japan .

Some of the fiercest fighting of the war took place in the vicinity of a place called Chosin Reservoir in North Korea in November and December 1950. That's where Faith and his battalion were when the Chinese decided to enter the war. The Chinese sent thousands of troops south across the Yalu River into Korea.

The entry of China into the war and their drive south into Korea surprised the Americans who were quickly outnumbered and outgunned.

Faith's Medal of Honor citation describes the action he took during this attack, noting that he "personally led counterattacks to restore (the battalion's) position" and link up with other units, as they'd been disbursed by the enemy's "fanatical attack."

Read his Medal of Honor citation

Lt. Col. Faith was killed Dec. 2, 1950, by communist forces. But it would take decades and a lot of help from other Soldiers and Defense civilians before his remains were finally recovered in North Korea and identified. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on April 17, 2013.

Read the account of his repatriation, the process of returning his remains to the United States.