POW/MIA service set for May 19 at Letterkenny chapel

May 07, 2007

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The annual community POW/MIA Service will be on Armed Services Day at 11 a.m. at the Letterkenny Chapel at Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg.

The May 19 service is jointly sponsored by the United Churches of the Chambersburg Area and the Joint Veterans' Council of Chambersburg.

The guest speaker will be the Rev. Thomas J. McInnes, a retired chaplain of the Association of Military Chaplains. Col. Swenson, commander of the Letterkenny Army Depot, will participate in the service.

Music for the service will be provided by the Community Choir, led by Elder Britha Ellen of the Unity in Christ Church. Joan Sachs of Falling Spring Presbyterian Church will be the organist.

Charles M. Nitterhouse Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1599 will present the colors and lead military honors in front of the chapel as the service concludes. Franklin County Veterans Affairs Director Robert Harris will present the Code of Conduct and Memorial Recognition of POW/MIA.

The Rev. McInnes began his military career as a private in the Army Air Corps early in 1946 was promoted to colonel 30 years later. He has served two tours in Vietnam, 3 1/2 years in Germany and in nine stateside posts. He grew up in the Buffalo, N.Y., area and attended Houghton College, Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Long Island University.

He was ordained as an American Baptist minister in May 1957, and has attended all three Army Chaplain schools (basic, career and advanced). He is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, Kan. He has also served parishes in Newton and Lancaster, Pa.

He and his wife, Ruth, have five children, eight grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters.

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