Prisoner of War Medal

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“My father was also awarded a Prisoner of War Medal, and that was approved by President Ronald Reagan. That anyone who was or had been a prisoner of war would be awarded a prisoner of war metal. Congressman Roy Rowland, from Dublin, awarded that to my father in January, before he passed away in February. So, my father had his Prisoner of War Medal for one month before he passed away.

Mr. Townsend [pastor and friend] came up to me, prior to my father’s funeral, and he said, ‘Did your father ever tell you how he and I first met?’ And I said, ‘Mr. Townsend, he didn’t’ He said, ‘Well, you know your father and I’ve conducted funerals throughout this area together for over 50 plus years. I was in the U. S. Marine Corps in World War II. I was one of the people who went to Niigata, Japan. The first time I met your father, is when I liberated him from prison camp.'

So, if you sit there and think, 50 years later, here are two men that met for the first time. I believe that the Lord puts us where we’re supposed to be, when we’re supposed to be there. And these are the kinds of stories one could not make up. How could two people meet for the first time ever, and then end up in a small town of maybe 10,000 citizens and work together for 50 plus years?”