Mother of Marine shares book about Fort Benning, in honor of her son, leaving the audience inspired
Auburn High School graduate Billy Stelpflug was killed in the Beirut terrorist bombings in Lebanon, Oct. 23, 1983.
He was 19 years old.
Ten years later, his mother Peggy Stelpflug undertook a project to honor her son, a lance corporal in the Marines.
Peggy Stelpflug gave a lecture, Thursday, on her book “Home of the Infantry: A History of Fort Benning.”
She and co-author Richard Hyatt began writing it in 1993.
Peggy Stelpflug’s lecture took place in Special Collections in the Ralph Brown Draughon Library.
The lecture was sponsored by AU Libraries, the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts (also known as Pebble Hill) and the AU Bookstore.
The “Book Talk” was free and open to both students and members of the Auburn community.
Dwayne Cox, head of Special Collections and Archives, first had the idea for the lecture when he learned Peggy Stelpflug and Hyatt’s book had been published in 2007.
Cox met Peggy Stelpflug when she was first researching the book and learned of the tragic death of her son, Billy.
About 30 guests attended the lecture, many of whom were friends and family of Peggy Stelpflug.
A few Auburn students were also in attendance.
One student was Audra Brawley, a freshman.
Brawley said her professor, Paul Harris, offered possible extra credit to anyone who attended the lecture.
Brawley said she didn’t mind attending the lecture.
“I’ve always been interested in history,” Brawley said. “My dad was a history buff, and my grandmother grew up in London around the time of World War II.”
Brawley said she always grew up hearing stories of her grandparents’ meeting, and that is how she first became interested in learning about history.
Stelpflug had no trouble keeping the interest of any of those in attendance of the lecture.
For over an hour, she entertained her audience with various anecdotes.
She talked of famous military leaders and of presidents and army wives.
Stelpflug also told the audience about beautiful old buildings and a dog named Calculator.
As diverse as the stories were, Stelpflug wove them all together with the common thread they all shared — a part in the history of Fort Benning.
The event became less like a lecture and more like a conversation with a wise and kind woman.
The audience casually shouted out questions and chuckled at Stelpflug’s interesting anecdotes.
Despite a smaller turnout, Cox said he considered the lecture a success.
“Really, all our lectures have been successful,” Cox said. “We have some of the same people show up every time.”
One such person is Julia Norton, a retired employee of the Auburn University business office.
“I enjoy coming to all these lectures,” Norton said. “They are always very interesting. I’m glad Auburn has them.”
Cox said some lectures are more popular with students than others.
Often, more students will attend if one of their own professors is speaking at the lecture.
“They’re probably hoping they will hear something that will get them an A,” Cox joked.
Cox said he would be happy to hear suggestions about future lectures that would interest students in coming to be a part of the audience.
A full list of lectures can be found at Pebble Hill’s home page on the Auburn University Web site.
