President Brandon opened the meeting at 12:30 and Chris Helt led the pledge and prayer.
ATTENDANCE: 33 members, or 42.86% of our membership attended and we had 2 guests. Kim Green and Craig Lady were both guests of John Bailey.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Christy Lucas - announced the upcoming Roots to Boots event of - Red, White, and Brew on 9/11/21 at The Markets At Hanover featuring featuring live entertainment, craft beer & wine & spirits, multiple restaurants, gun raffle, silent auction, games of chance.
Christy Lucas - Roots for Boots Food Pantry is running low on food for distribution to veterans. If you can donate food stuffs to the pantry it would be greatly appreciated!
Tara Kauffman - YMCA hosting charity run, SnackTown RunFest, October 2, 2021features 1/2 marathon, 5K, Kids Fun Run, and 1st Annual Beer Bash On George.
PROGRAM: John Bailey - Lt Jacques Meeker WWII Experiences
John related the relationship between his father, his uncle Glenn and a family friend, Lt Jacques Meeker, whom they called "uncle" during the period of time surrounding WWII. "Uncle" Jacques ran Standard Register in York after the war. These men, along with the vast majority of men returning from WWII rarely spoke of their military service experience. They earned distinguished medals like the Purple Heart, Silver Star, and Bronze Star but many families never knew about those awards until the end of the soldier's life.
Jacques served in the Pacific theatre and in the European theatre as well. He serving under General Patton when he crossed the Rhine river. Jacques' story includes being wounded, captured, prisoner of war, witnessing atrocities committed by the German soldiers, and finally being liberated by the Americans under General Devers. His wound during combat when he was shot in the ear. John displayed Jacques' helmet that had a bullet hole in it.
John told several interesting stories about the lives of these courageous men who made it back home and settled in the greater York area and raised their families after the war. The time and effort John put into researching the lives of these men and recounting their exploits with us was much appreciated.
NEXT WEEK'S PROGRAM: ERIC M. CHASE, MS, EXEC DIR/CEO CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY