DAR honors World War II veteran John M. McMahan

John McMahan of Abbeville, a World War II veteran, was honored by the Daughters of the American Revolution Saturday during a ceremony held on the steps of the Abbeville County Courthouse.

DAR Chapter Regent Lucy Willis pinned a medal on McMahan to provide a climax to the ceremony, honoring a man who appears to be the embodiment of everything a veteran should be.

"This award is the most prestigious honor awarded by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The Medal of Honor is is given to an adult man or woman who is a United States citizen by birth and has shown extraordinary qualities of leadership, trustworthiness, service and patriotism. The recipient must have made unusual and lasting contributions to our American Heritage by truly giving of himself or herself to his or her comnmuniy, state, country and fellow-man."

AN INTERESTING LIFE

McMahan is something of an Abbeville celebrity, and the DAR provided this biographical sketch of him.

McMahan was born in Elbert County, GA. in 1914. His parents returned to the Nation community in Abbeville County when he was just one year old. He grew up on a farm, and attended school in South Carolina, completing the ninth grade in 1928.

During the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps, which was designed to provide useful jobs for young men aged 18 to 25, and McMahan began work in a CCC camp in 1934 at the age of 20.

The men of the CCC worked in a variety of jobs in parks, recreational areas, and soil conservation projects directed by Army officers and foresters

McMahan eventually obtained his GED, and in 1936 he enlisted in the U.S. Army, and served in the Panama Canal area until 1938, when he returned to Fort Bragg, N.C.

In 1942, with the U.S. now at war, he was deployed overseas to England.

After a period of training, he was assigned to North Africa, and on Feb. 14, 1943, he was captured by the Germans, and spent two years and three months in a German POW camp.

His years in the prison camp are the subject of "The Prisoner: An Abbevillian Remembers His WWII Experiences."

He eventually became an Army engineer specializing in topography, making maps and performing surveys.

McMahan married Margaret Strickland, and they had two children.

Today, McMahan is an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion. At the age of 90, he serves as Chaplain for American Legion Post Two in Abbeville.

He coordinates poppy sales for the veterans, participates in flag retirement ceremonies, and mans the American Legion booth at the Abbeville Spring Festival.

He is active in the First Baptist Church of Abbeville, and was elected to serve as a deacon.

"Mr Mcmahan has truly given of himself to his community, and his country; he is truly one of the remaining greatest generation members, continuing to represent the American spirit with his leadershipk trustworthiness, patriotism and service on a daily basis," the DAR reported.

A MORNING OF PAGEANTRY

Saturday's ceremony to honor McMahan involved the participation of many people.

Representatives of American Legion Post 184, based in Anderson, posted and retired the colors.

Reiny Koschel, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Abbeville, provided the invocation.

Chapter chaplain Betty Goin led in the singing of the national anthem, and Abbeville Mayor Harold McNeil provided greetings

Willis read aloud a letter from U.S. Congressman Gresham Barrett commending McMahan on the award.

Willis also thanked American Legion Post Two for recommending McMahan for the DAR honor.

Recommendations from a number of people in Abbeville County were included with the application, including Marion Hall, USAF {Retired); Fred L Lewis, Jr.; Dr. Howard T. Gilchrist; Moses Aleman; Wilma Reeves; and Dr. Harry Stille, who is retired from the South Carolina House of Representatives.

Willis also read from a letter of approval from the National Chairman of the Americanism Committee, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

ALL THE WAY FROM CALIFORNIA

McMahan's daughter Brenda Grace McMahan Bragg came all the way from California where she works as a registered nurse in the Los Angeles area.

She noted that she has been told that there has been a McMahan in evry major war America fought, "from the beginning."

The beginning, of course, means the Revolutionary War, in which the McMahans fought on the colonial side against the British.

The McMahans, she said, were Irish, and as Irishmen weren't terribly fond of the British.

(McMahan's son John was also on hand for the ceremony.)