The Adams County Historical Society honored veterans at their recent November meeting. They welcomed three speakers who told their experiences in the services to their country.
Chaplain Steve Zinser explained the early chaplains in the army starting with the American Revolution. Zinser told of how James Naismith, better known for inventing the game of basketball, was also an Army chaplain during World War 1.
He also told the story of the Four Chaplains who were on the ship Dorchester when it was hit by Germans. They all died after giving their life jackets to other service men. The role of chaplains is to comfort the wounded, pray for the dead and care for the living.
The next speaker was Ernest McFarland of Manchester. He entered World War II on Sept. 2, 1945 at 18 years of age. He was one of the last ones called and reported to Ft. Hayes in Columbus. He served at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey as a Company Clerk.
The last speaker was Russell Pollitt, also of Manchester. He had many interesting stories from crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary with 33,000 other solders. The trip lasted seven days and the ship was too big to land in London, so they continued on to Scotland.
Mr. Pollitt was assigned to the 8th Army Division, 58th Battalion. He was injured and was taken to the Netherlands but later came back to fight.
Pollitt had many pictures to share and a DVD that we plan to watch at a later meeting.
The meeting was adjourned with prayer by Chaplain Zinser.
