What would it be like to hold a chunk of history in your hand? Well, that particular opportunity happened to Major Riginal Ackerman during World War II.
Most people said that the war was horrible, but the war for Mr. Ackerman changed his life.
Major Ackerman was stationed in England. Most people said that the war was horrible, but the war for Mr. Ackerman changed his life. It changed for the better with this incident.
Major Ackerman has always been a lover of history and had studied about his family. It so happened that his ancestors had come from England. Since he was there, he decided to go around and see where they had lived. He went to his commanding officer and asked if he could save up his leave days so he could take them off all at once. His commander agreed, and finally, he had ten or 15 days saved up. He left for London. He found a little village named O'Dell village. His mother was an O'Dell, so he decided to visit.
He was happy to see that all the people in this village were polite, but after a while he got tired of walking up and down the streets so he went for a walk on the mountain trails. He was walking across a farm when someone yelled, "Hey Yank!"
Major Ackerman stopped, turned around, and waved.
The Man said, "Yank, I have something in my barn that will be of great interest to you."
Mr. Ackerman followed him into the barn.
"Now Yank, run your hand along this part of the barn."
As he did he was asked, "have you ever heard that when boats are done sailing they get torn down and sold as wood?"
Mr. Ackerman said, "Yes, I've heard of that."
"Well, what you have in your hand is the Mayflower!"
Mr. Ackerman stopped, and looked around, and started crying. For a long time he just looked and rubbed his hand on the wood of the Mayflower.
He has never shared this story with anyone before, except his wife. Now he wants us to tell about it.
We thank Mr. Ackerman for his sacred story.
- Christi Weaver