Sunday, May 26

This is a picture of Bill Allen with his
12 year old brother outside the family
farm in Alta, IL before Bill left for Europe.
This would have been the last time Ben
saw his brother. 

Sunday, May 26, I have the privilege of delivering the sermon at 1st Presby at both the 9:00am and 11:00am services. With this being Memorial Day weekend, the theme of my message is going to be talking about Bill Allen. He was a Knox grad, who taught at Galesburg High School. He chose in 1943 to enlist in the Army to fight in WW2. His division fought in every major battle in northern Europe.

He was a prolific writer and wrote letters to his parents, his family, and to friends back in Galesburg. The Allen family kept all of the letters and shortly after the war, they published the letters in a book.

The letters describe life from boot camp in Georgia, staging in England, liberating France, and fighting to within miles of Berlin. Bill Allen was killed in April of 1945, just 19 days before V-E Day. His story is a story of courage, commitment and sacrifice. His letters give a first hand account of life as a soldier.

I would like to invite you to attend either service on May 26 as I share this story.