One of Greater Nashville’s most recent newcomers is Major General David Gardner, the first Jewish commander at Fort Campbell. Gardner was introduced to the Jewish community at a reception at the home of Bernie and Maria Pargh. Bernie Pargh says, “We were thrilled to be able to introduce him to the leadership of the Jewish community.”
The event was organized with the assistance of Alice Rolli whose husband Michael Rolli attended West Point with Gardner. Of those days in the middle 1990s, Rolli says, “We were both Jewish cadets, which means we bonded at Friday services which was a way, that first year, to get out of the barracks and to get away from the stress of everyday life at West Point by breaking bread and relaxing with other Jewish cadets.”
Rolli says at that time there were 11 Jewish students in his class of 1994. And while the student body was in his words, “eclectic,” he was not surprised to see Gardner rise to the rank of General. “A lot of my friends who stayed in the Army and became generals I never expected to get that far. Dave was very sharp and very military savvy from the start.”…