SENATOR MUSTO ATTENDS REDEDICATION OF LETTERKENNY CHAPEL

State Senator Ray Musto attended the rededication of the chapel at the Letterkenny Army Depot as part of Armed Forces Day festivities on May 17.  The chapel was built in 1945 by Italian prisoners of war housed at Letterkenny, which is near Chambersburg.

  Senator Musto, community, church and veterans’ groups were instrumental in preserving the chapel when it was slated for closure in 1997. The chapel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

  Joining Senator Musto at the event was Alfred Tonolo, a retired professor from Bloomsburg University, who helped build the chapel as an Italian prisoner of war. He wore a helmet of an Italian Army bersalgieri at the ceremony. Also in attendance were officials of the United Churches of the Chambersburg Area, which administers the chapel; and UNICO, the Italian-American organization that raised funds for the chapel’s preservation.

  Italian prisoners of war were housed at Letterkenny during World War II. One of them, a stonemason, grew despondent over his wife’s death. Brig. Gen. Ray Hare, then-commander of Letterkenny, asked the man to design a chapel. The prisoners agreed to build the structure, which is made from the native stone of old farmhouses and features a belfry of Florentine design among other singular features.

  “It shows the compassion the commanding general had for the people,” said Senator Musto, who led the efforts to save the chapel. “He was not only concerned about his men, but about his prisoners of war. It’s what America is all about. We are a compassionate people.”

  According to the church group, the chapel is the only structure of its kind on any military base in the United States.