These were Great Depression
times – no electricity or indoor
plumbing, no tractors or sophisticated
machinery, just “mules-n-plows” and
“hoes-in-hands.” We
grew cotton, tobacco, corn, and
taters. All 11 years of my public
schooling was at Wilson’s Mills – no
amenities, just the three Rs, some
history, and a smattering of civics.
I worked with my father on the farm
until the spring of 1945. I had turned
18 in January of 1945 and on May 23 I
was inducted into the U.S. Army for
service in the closing months of World
War II.
I was trained in Infantry heavy
weapons at Fort McClelland, Alabama.
We learned how to operate and service
water-cooled 30-caliber machine guns
and 81-millimeter mortars. Our
basic training was scheduled to finish
in September 1945 and we expected to
be in the Pacific Theater for combat
after that.
President Harry Truman had two basic
options which he hoped would end World
War II. These two options were either
invade Japan in a D-day type operation
or drop nuclear bombs on Japan. He
chose to drop nuclear bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The use
of A-bombs to end the war changed
everything.
We had no idea what the
beginning of nuclear war would mean
for the world, but for us it meant
that the war was over and we would not
have to kill Japanese or be killed. I
believe that the use of nuclear bombs
actually saved my life because the
land invasion of Japan would be
extremely dangerous and cost many
lives.
The Japanese surrender was announced
by Emperor Hirohito on August 15, 1945
and was formally signed onto by all
parties on September 2, 1945. That
action
ended the war and ended my threat of
being part of an invasion force.
In the summer of 1945, my
training company was deployed to
Europe for occupation duty in Germany.
There we were assigned to armored
calvary to do motorized patrols in the
Kassal, Germany area. Kassal was a
German rail center and had been
carpet-bombed during World War II.
Kassal was about the size of Richmond,
Virginia. The carpet-bombing flattened
the town. I
was a driver for an M-8 armored car, a
tank on wheels. It is pictured below.
Imagine me, a Johnston County farm boy
driving that thing.
After a year we returned home
and were released from active military
duty. I choose to enlist in the U.S.
Army Reserve and continued serving
part-time for the next 35 years. I
retired from the military at age 54.
On October 4, 1945, while home on
furlough, my fiancée, Marguerite
Godwin, and I were married. Some of
the family urged us to wait until I
had finished my military service. But
we were young lovers and had no
inclination to listen to reason. Our
“quickie” wedding began a 67-year
marriage of wedded unity before
Marguerite’s death. We were indeed
soul mates for life. We had three
children: two girls and one boy. Our
clan grew to include 10 grandchildren
and at the time of this writing 20
great-grandchildren and one
great-great-granddaughter.
CALLED TO CHRISTIAN
MINISTRY
Our family life had a direction
established when I sensed a calling to
Christian ministry. One of
Marguerite’s uncles teased her about
praying for me to be “called to
preach” so we would not be destined to
raise tobacco for a living. I served
52 years in active pastoral ministry
in Baptist churches in North Carolina,
Kentucky, and Virginia.
To prepare for my vocation I pursued
theological education at Wake Forest
College – at the time located in the
town of Wake Forest near Raleigh. I
earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Wake Forest College, a bachelor’s
degree in Theology and a Master of
Arts degree in Divinity at
Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest,
and a doctorate in Christian Ethics at
Southern Seminary in Kentucky. After
our children were in school,
Marguerite earned her college degree
in education at the University of
North Carolina. She then taught in
public schools in Virginia and North
Carolina.
My Army Reserve career progressed well
for the 36 years that I served. Those
quarterly reserve checks came just in
time to pay the children’s medical and
dental bills. Medical care was not so
costly in those days.
I was commissioned as an Infantry
Lieutenant in 1955. I never dreamed I
would wear those gold bars on my
uniform. I transferred to become a
chaplain that same year. I
graduated from the Basic and Advanced
courses of the Army Chaplain School. In
1968, I graduated from the U.S. Army
Command and General Staff College and
was then promoted to Lieutenant
Colonel. With that rank and my Ph.D.,
I was assigned to the staff and
faculty of the Army Chaplain School,
which was located in New York. Those
years gave me the privilege of
spending a month of active duty in New
York teaching at the school and
getting acquainted with big-city
living. When I retired from the Army
Reserves, I did so as at the rank of
Colonel.
While I was a pastor in
Durham, I was honored to be invited to
teach on an adjunct level at
Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest.
After I retired from active pastoring,
I was privileged to teach adjunct in
the religion department at Campbell
University in Buies Creek. I became a
published writer for the Southern
Baptist Sunday School Board and
Boardman Press through the 1970s and
1980s.
In retirement I worked for two
decades with two of my children to
charter and develop family businesses.
One is called Williamsburg Woodcraft
and is a business engaged in custom
wood millwork design and manufacture.
It is located near Selma. The other
business is called Clean Green
Environmental Services and is located
in Durham. I am proud to say that both
are successful and well established.
My wife, Marguerite, and I
were privileged to travel extensively.
We visited 27 foreign countries and
all 50 states in the U.S.A. We did six
tours of Europe and the Holy Lands in
the Near East and three trips to the
Oberammergau Passion Play located in
Bavaria, Germany. This play depicts
the Passion of Christ. It uses 2,000
local performers and has been
performed every 10 years since 1634.
In my personal ventures during
retirement, I have researched and
written an autobiography of our lives,
in addition to five books on theology
and Bible interpretation. For the last
decade, I have written a series of on-line
theology articles called “Bible
Reflections.” From time to time, I am
also asked to host zoom sessions on
different theological subjects. At 99,
I still live alone and lead an active
life.
During my retirement years I
have been regularly involved in
military veteran activities. I am an
active member of the Selma Post 14 of
the American Legion. My life
experiences from Great Depression days
through World War II plus academic
pursuits in ethics and psychology have
led to numerous invitations to share
and speak.
The Johnston County Heritage
Center has included me in their Living
History project. At the invitation of
the Johnston County Veterans Council,
I have given the annual address for
Memorial Day services. The local
chapter of Daughters of the American
Revolution has asked me to share my
military experiences with them and
they honored me with a gift of a flag
flown over DAR National headquarters.
I have participated in the West
Johnston High School program of
veteran-student live interviews. In
November 2025, my friend Colonel Rudy
Baker and I served as main speakers
for the annual Veterans Day Observance
held at Smithfield-Selma High School
and sponsored by Johnston County
Public Schools.
Rudy Baker and I are pictured
together below:
I was born on January
18, 1927, so I am now 99 years old.
The farm where I was born was near
Benson at the intersection of highway
50 and Elevation Road.