The Central Pennsylvania World War II (WWII) Roundtable will meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5. The meeting will be held at Grace United Methodist Church, 433 E. Main St., Hummelstown.
The guest speaker will be 95-year-old Allentown resident Clarence Smoyer, whose exploits in the 3rd Armored, or "Spearhead," Division garnered attention at least twice in his life. The first time was during the Battle for Cologne in March 1945, when a combat photographer caught a duel between his Pershing tank and a German Panther tank on film, which played in newsreels around the country. More recently, author Adam Makos made Smoyer a subject of his bestseller, "Spearhead: An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy, and a Collision of Lives in World War II."
This past September, Smoyer, the last living member of the Pershing tank crew that destroyed the German Panther, was awarded a Bronze Star for heroism during a ceremony at the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Three more Bronze Stars were awarded posthumously to his fellow crew members.
The Central Pennsylvania World War II Roundtable is a nonprofit organization that provides a forum for World War II veterans, authors, historians, and citizens to share their knowledge and experiences related to the war. Meetings are held on the first Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. at Grace United Methodist Church in Hummelstown. Meetings are open to the public, and there are no membership or admission fees.
For more information, readers may contact Charlie Lloyd at charlie.centralpaww2rt@gmail.com or 717-503-2862 or visit http://www.centralpaww2roundtable.org.
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