[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 24, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H614]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING JOHN ALBERT McNEILL, SR.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Holding) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and recognize the 
life of John Albert McNeill, Sr.--a fine American.
  John McNeill was born in Whiteville, North Carolina, in 1918. From 
the time he was born until he graduated from college, John helped his 
folks run their family pharmacy in Whiteville, which first opened in 
1875, and is, to this day, Mr. Speaker, North Carolina's oldest family-
owned pharmacy.
  When McNeill graduated from the University of North Carolina at 
Chapel Hill in 1940 as a pharmacist, he had intentions to return home 
to Whiteville and work in the drugstore, but that didn't happen. The 
United States had joined the Allies in World War II, and McNeill found 
himself at the recruiting station trying to enlist. Much to his dismay, 
he quickly discovered that he wasn't tall enough to qualify for the 
Navy.
  John McNeill was undeterred. Determined to serve his country, McNeill 
spent the next 2 months of his life stretching, and he added 2 inches 
to his height--just enough to qualify for the Navy. Having been 
accepted to the Navy, John completed his midshipman's training at 
Columbia University and gained his commission in early 1942.
  During the war, McNeill commanded landing craft in the Pacific 
theater and served with distinction as he participated in hundreds of 
landings in the Solomon Islands while reinforcing Guadalcanal.

                              {time}  1030

  After finishing his time in the Navy, John returned to Whiteville to 
help run the drugstore. The day after returning home, he opened the 
family store, walked across the street, and introduced himself to his 
future wife, Margaret Powell. They were married a year later and raised 
six children together. Around this time, McNeill got involved in 
Scouting--first in a Sea Scouting troop at Lake Waccamaw, and then 
later with the Boy Scouts of America as his children were growing up.
  Mr. Speaker, John McNeill's devotion to the Boy Scouts was well known 
across North Carolina as he took his troops to places as far away as 
the Arctic Circle and the Yucatan Peninsula. A famous story he told 
involved his troops hiking across the State of North Carolina and 
stopping to have breakfast with the Governor one morning along the way. 
Mr. Speaker, under John's leadership, some 55 Boy Scouts in Whiteville, 
North Carolina, achieved the rank of Eagle Scout--Scouting's highest 
rank.
  While John's legacy as a Scoutmaster is near legend, thousands in 
Columbus County will remember his hospitality, too. Every Fourth of 
July, at his pier--his dock--on Lake Waccamaw, John and his family 
gathered to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, 
an event thousands have attended. All the while, John continued running 
his family's drugstore; and, for many years, he held the distinction of 
being North Carolina's oldest licensed pharmacist. Sadly, John passed 
away in September, at the age of 98.
  Mr. Speaker, John Albert McNeill, Sr., lived an extraordinary life, 
and the difference he made in the lives of countless others in his 
community will be remembered for years and generations to come.

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