The Rev. Matthew A. Zimmerman, Chaplin and Maj. Gen. (retired) of the U.S. Army, will be the featured speaker at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration on Monday, Jan. 18.

A native of Union County and graduate of Sims High School, Zimmerman received an undergraduate degree from Benedict College in Columbia, in 1962. In 1965 he became the first African-American to earn a Master of Divinity degree from Duke University. He also earned a Master of Science degree in Guidance and Counseling from Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY, in 1975.

Zimmerman served as a campus pastor at Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho. He then returned to South Carolina to continue his ministry as campus pastor/instructor at Morris College in Sumter.

In 1967 Zimmerman joined the Army and served in a number of positions in the United States and abroad. In August 1990 he became the first African-American to serve as Chief of Chaplains of any military service. In this position, he carried the rank of Major General. Also, as Chief of Chaplains, he was responsible for the management, training and assignments of more than 6,400 chaplains and chaplain’s assistants of both active and reserve components.

While in the military, Zimmerman earned a number of awards and decorations including the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, three Meritorious Service Medals, the Army Commendation Medal and the Vietnam Honor Medal, 1st class. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College.

Zimmerman was a 1990 recipient of the NAACP’s Roy Wilkins Meritorious Service Award and in 1992 was selected to the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame. From 1994-98 he served as the first African-American Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Chaplains Center located at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Hampton, VA. In this capacity he directed Department of Veterans Affairs Headquarters-level chaplain activities, including the Chaplain Education Center, and provided leadership to the Department’s National Chaplin Service which is responsible for all chaplains of all denominations in 171 VA Medical Centers.

This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration will be held at 6 p.m. at McBeth Baptist Church.