TheBurg

07.17 | theburg | 21 A bLeSSiNg e Central PA WW2 Roundtable is an offshoot of the Hershey Civil War Roundtable. e Civil War group started in 1992, motivated by the Ken Burns documentary on public television. About a decade later, club member Fred Taylor suggested starting a World War II Roundtable "because we still have the guys." e group's first president, William Jackson, invited John Light, a Dickinson College mathematics professor, to speak at the initial meeting, held in March 2003 at the Hershey Public Library. Light served in the same infantry division as Jackson's father, who perished late in the war in Germany. at meeting attracted about 25 people. One of the early speakers was Richard Winters of Hershey, commander of Easy Company, the paratrooper unit featured in the book and HBO series "Band of Brothers." e growth of the World War II Roundtable inspired the 2013 founding of the Central Pennsylvania Vietnam Round Table. is group meets on the second ursday of the month at the VVA Capital Chapter 542 building in Harrisburg. Lloyd, a Vietnam-era veteran of the Air National Guard, said that he got involved in the World War II Roundtable about six years ago. In past years, he easily could find speakers in the Harrisburg metro area. But with fewer and fewer living veterans, he has widened his search, going as far away as the Delaware River. Lloyd said that he drives to a veteran's home to brief him on how to present his story and to make sure he can engage a large audience. He also transports speakers to and from the meetings. Lloyd is assisted by president Kirk Gibson, who served in an Army airborne reconnaissance company from 1961 to 1964. "Everything we do is on a volunteer basis," Gibson said. "We all have things to do, but it's a fun group of people." Lloyd likened meeting the veterans to "shaking hands with living history." "A lot of these veterans didn't expect to come back," said Lloyd. "ey got on with their lives and didn't talk about the war very much until their later years. To meet them personally is a blessing." e World War II Roundtable is held the first ursday of the month at 7 p.m. at Grace United Methodist Church, 433 E. Main St., Hummelstown. For more information, visit www.centralpaww2roundtable.org. Photos by Milt Dienes. Guam, 1945 Middle, bottom: Nagasaki, 100 days after nuclear bomb.

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