The third Wednesday of the month is a highly anticipated day for me. It is the day the Dutch Fork Chapter of the South Carolina Genealogical Society meets.

During the summer the group met at the Ballentine Library. They took a trip to New-berry to tour the DeWalt house. Now they are back to business as usual in Chapin.

Tom Fincher spoke about a book he wrote several years ago. The book is called: No Ordinary Lives: the life and times of Chapin area World War II veterans. The sold-out, self-published book was published in 2011. It was published after years of interviews with WWII veterans. The Dutch Fork chapter plans to reprint the book soon.

Tom, brother Bill, and sister Melita told about their connections to the Dutch Fork and Newberry. Tom explained his inspiration for the book was to record the life and times of WWII veterans in the Chapin area. “After all, there aren’t many left.” These people experienced so much history in their lifetime. They saw the Great Depression, building Lake Murray, and WWII.

Gathering stories happened through his participation in the recent veterans’ flights to Washington.

Tom interviewed each of the veterans over ten hours in five sessions. They talked about their service in WWII. The interviews are rich in military history, local history, and personal life stories.

He read from his interviews: the story of Herman Monts born 1921. When Lake Murray was built, the Monts family refused to believe the lake was coming until floodwaters filled their home. The family was rescued as water lapped up the home’s walls. The water lifted the walls off its foundation. The water sent it like a floating dirigible into the rising lake waters.

The Monts boys of age served in WWII. Herman lived through some of history’s greatest moments. Herman Monts died in July 2010. The family of Garland Norman, his war buddy, came to Chapin to pay special homage to one of their own “Band of Brothers.”

The book contains other personal accounts of people in our community. They lived in extraordinary times and lived extraordinary lives.