Nearly 300 soldiers echoed the prayers of their new commander in chief early Tuesday at Fort Gordon’s National Prayer Breakfast.

“We’re reminded how blessed we are to live in a country that affords us the opportunity to pray,” Maj. Thomas Helms prayed. “God, although we serve the military and the government, our hope is still the same as most peoples in this world. We hope and we pray for peace.”

The soldiers thanked God for building a strong institution such as Fort Gordon and prayed for blessing on the communities that neighbor the post.

The Fort Gordon prayer breakfast is one of several held across the nation in honor of the official National Prayer Breakfast, held Feb. 5 in Washington with President Obama. The tradition was begun in 1952 with President Eisenhower and has been attended by every president since.

The surroundings were familiar for Col. Samuel J.T. Boone, a former battalion chaplain at Fort Gordon. He is now commandant of the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School in Fort Jackson, S.C. He spoke on the value of loyalty, service, respect and courage.

READ MORE from The Augusta Chronicle