Veterans, DD214s, and Military Honors
America’ s Greatest Generation
Bill Seymour Delivering the Invocation for the 2016 IPC Veterans Celebration
Bill Seymour went to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on January 12, 2018— he was 93 years old. Bill lived his life as the epitome of a servant follower of Christ. Over the course of his life Bill had many major accomplishments in both his personal and professional life, truly making a difference in the world that he left behind. Bill did not advertise his accomplishments; he just continued to serve others. Bill was a member of Independent Presbyterian Church for 29 years, joining in 1989 with his wife after retiring from work and moving to Savannah. Bill was always positive and uplifting to everyone around him, spreading enthusiasm and good cheer
William“ Bill” Seymour WW II Veteran and Humble Servant of Christ
to those that he came in contact with. He was a faithful servant of the church, serving as a Trustee, a member the Finance Committee, and co-chairing the 2001 Capital Campaign for church renovations. Bill was a tireless volunteer in the Savannah community. He served on the boards of many civic organizations and the Veritas Academy. He was a home hospice care volunteer for over 20 years and was the Memorial Health volunteer of the year in 2012. He brought his enthusiasm and energy to our I. P. C. Veterans celebrations, delivering the invocation for the 2016 celebration and our most recent event in 2017.
Bill was an athlete in both high school and college; he was on the varsity basketball team at the University of Michigan when WW II began. Bill, as the men of the“ Greatest Generation” did, responded to his country’ s call and placed his college education on hold to join the Army. After Bill joined the Army he was assigned to the Army’ s Manhattan Project, the Top Secret project to develop America’ s first atomic bomb. He was assigned to the test site at Los Alamos, New Mexico on the plutonium recovery team, where he was exposed to dangerously high levels of radiation while executing his duties. The danger and exposure to radiation was such that Bill and his team members’ health were tracked for the duration of their lives. Bill’ s and his fellow soldiers’ dedication to duty and sacrifice on the Manhattan Project ultimately resulted in the saving of hundreds of thousands of American servicemen’ s lives. If the atomic bomb had not been available to end the war, an invasion of the Japanese home islands would have cost potentially one million American and Japanese lives.
After his service in the Army during WW II on the Manhattan Project, Bill returned to the University of Michigan to complete his degree.
Upon completing his education, Bill went on to a career in the paper industry that culminated in him rising to the position of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Crystal Tissue Company in Middletown, Ohio. After his retirement in 1988, Bill and his wife moved to Savannah. We are thankful to God for raising up men like Bill to selflessly serve His church and our nation.
— Dexter Brewer
Veterans, DD214s, and Military Honors
The Department of Defense form DD214 is a very important document for all military veterans. All veterans know what it is since it is the last document they sign before being discharged or retire from service. When a veteran passes away this form is required if the veteran or his family desires military honors at his funeral. When a military veteran passes, the form has to be carried to the funeral director as soon as possible so they can request the military honors from the nearest military facility. If the DD214 is readily available to the next of kin, it is more likely that the funeral honors can be arranged and there will be less crisis management on the part of the family. The DD214 also is required if you want to be buried in a National Cemetery or State Veteran’ s Cemetery. The same document entitles the veteran to a military gravestone and other veteran’ s funeral benefits. All veterans should safeguard their DD214s and make sure their next of kin are aware of its location and have access to it.
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