Marshall remembered as Uniontown clergy celebrate the new year
Uniontown Area Clergy Association will mark New Year’s Eve with a community worship service as well as a special program to commemorate the 135th anniversary of the birth of George C. Marshall, Uniontown’s most famous native.
The event begins at 6 p.m. Dec. 31 at St. Peter’s Anglican Church, located at 60 Morgantown St., where Marshall and his family were members. Marshall, who was born in Uniontown in 1880, served as Army Chief of Staff during World War II and received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1953 for his plan to restore Europe after the war.
The event begins with a community worship service, believed to be the first hosted by the clergy association in modern times. The Rev. Jason Lamer, pastor of Faith Assembly of God, will preach. The Rev. John Cruikshank, host pastor, and the Rev. Kevin Anderson, pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, will con-celebrate the service.
Cruikshank said, “The parish of St. Peter’s is pleased to host this event and our desire is to see it continue at other parishes for years to come. We see this as a way for the Christian community to come together to begin a new year.”
Following the service, the Rev. Peter Malik, clergy association president who co-authored the 2003 book “The Uniontown Childhood of General George C. Marshall” with the Rev. Travis Deans, will present a talk on Marshall in the George Marshall Room of the parish house. There will also be a birthday cake.
“I’ll be talking about George Marshall, his life in Uniontown and what he did for the world,” said Malik, who is also co-executive director of Teens for Christ with Deans. “I’ll also be talking about his spiritual foundation at St. Peter’s and how it impacted his life and prepared him for the world.”
Marshall was the fourth child of George Catlett Marshall Sr. and Laura Emily Bradford Marshall. The family lived in a house near the Five Corners Intersection.
Malik noted Marshall said the two people who had the greatest impact on his life were his mother and his pastor, the Rev. John S. Wightman.
Marshall left Uniontown at age 16 for the Virginia Military Institute in Leesburg, Va., and began a lifelong career as a soldier and statesman.
He served under Gen. John J. Pershing during World War I and became President Roosevelt’s chief of staff on the very day that World War II began, Sept. 1, 1939.
Marshall retired from the military in 1945 and President Truman appointed him special ambassador to China. In 1947, after being appointed Secretary of State, Marshall devised the Marshall Plan for which he was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. Marshall also served as secretary of defense from 1950-51. He died in Walter Reed Hospital on Oct. 16, 1959.
The website for the George C. Marshall Foundation notes, Marshall’s “contributions to our nation and the world cannot be overstated. He was the organizer of victory and the architect of peace during and following World War II. He won the war, and he won the peace. His characteristics of honesty, integrity, and selfless service stand as shining examples for those who study the past and for those generations who will learn about him in the future.”
Throughout his life, Marshall maintained a fondness for his hometown.
“Whenever he did the taped interviews with Forrest C. Pogue (his biographer),” Malik noted, “he just talked so affectionately about Uniontown.”
Malik added, “There’s an urban myth in Uniontown that when George Marshall was famous, he didn’t come back but he came back when he was invited and quietly. He loved Uniontown. During his military career, his records said he was George C. Marshall of Uniontown, Pa. He always loved Uniontown and he loved coming back but when he came back, he didn’t like a lot of fuss.”
Malik did tell a story about Marshall declining one invitation that came for Memorial Day 1944 when Uniontown asked him to come home for the dedication of an honor roll.
“He told Mayor Russell Umbel he was too engaged to come. The event was seven days before the invasion of Normandy,” said Malik. “He missed the dedication because he was planning D-Day. I think he had a great excuse.”