On Tuesday following the Sapulpa Rotary Club meeting, I introduced my granddaughter Harmony to a “member of the Greatest Generation” — George Maynard.
She is nine, and has to learn what such things as that means. George, who survived the Battle of the Bulge and spent the next 100 days fighting to free Europe and the world from Hitler’s Third Reich, turns 91 on Wednesday.
He and others rightly referred to as The Greatest Generation answered Uncle Sam’s call and went away to fight the evil axis. Maynard was fresh out of high school.
Family members assured him they would be praying for his protection. During battle, Maynard was knocked for a loop when a bullet hit him in the chest, but upon inspection found that the single round that hit him failed to penetrate the small Bible he carried in the pocket over his heart.
Needless to say, Maynard became a member of the faithful and later would give him self over to serve as a Gideon — the organization that distributes Bibles in the traffic lanes of humanity including schools, hotels and to soldiers going off to service.
Maynard joined the Rotary when he was 23 and was on hand Tuesday to see 26 Sapulpa members receive the Paul Harris Fellowship honor.
In photo, George is telling women at a recent Rotary meeting that he remembered when the Rotary Clubs consisted only of men. He said that opening the membership to women has been a very good thing. Six of the Paul Harris inductees on Tuesday were women.
