The Jackson Purchase Historical Society will meet on Saturday, August 22nd at 10:30 AM. The focus of the meetings will be on Kentuckians at Pearl Harbor, with a special focus on the Reverend Howell Forgy, 
who was a Navy chaplain at Pearl Harbor during the attack, He was on the USS New Orleans when the attack started and is credited with coining the phrase “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” to encourage the sailors on the New Orleans. The phrase became an inspirational song during World War II. His book And Pass the Ammunition (1944) written with Jack S. McDowell offers one of the best accounts of the Pearl Harbor attack.
The program will be presented by Berry Craig, a well-known and prolific historian of the Jackson Purchase region and will draw on his research on Kentuckians who were at Pearl Harbor on that fateful day as well as Rev. Forgy.
The meeting will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in Murray KY, which is located at the corner of Main Street (KY 94) and 16th Street – near the MSU campus. Ample parking is available behind the church. First Presbyterian is hosting the meeting because Howell Forgy was serving as its minister before enlisting in the Navy as a chaplain at the start of World War II.
Berry Craig, III has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Murray State in history and journalism. He is Professor of History Emeritus at West Kentucky Community and Technical College. He is the author of a number of books, including Kentuckians and Pearl Harbor (University Press of Kentucky, 2020) and a frequent contributor to the Journal of Jackson Purchase Historical Society and state and regional media. The University Press of Kentucky is offering a 20 percent discount on Kentuckians and Pearl Harbor. Order from: https://www.kentuckypress.com/. Use discount code FA20.
The program is free and open to the public — all are welcome to attend.
