- July 24, 1924
- Born Gadsden, Ala., son of local builder and garage mechanic Horace Sams, Sr. and registered nurse Alice Sams.
- 1936-40
- Family moves to Birmingham, Ala. Horace skips a grade and graduates from Philips High School at age 16.
- 1940
- Enters Bob Jones University, Cleveland, Tenn.; graduates 1944 B.A. Ministry. Meets and starts dating Winifred Goodrich sometime during Fall semester 1943.
- Summer 1944
- Leads local tent revival meetings sponsored by the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA). One revival meeting is at a CMA church in Tuscaloosa, Ala., which is in need of a pastor.
- Sept. 1944
- Marries Winifred Sept. 9; honeymoon in New York city. Starts as full-time pastor of the Tuscaloosa CMA church immediately upon return. Also begins graduate program at University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in order to get a "more recognized" degree.
- June 1945
- Receives M.A. in English from U. Alabama.
- Summer 1945
- Moves to Nyack, New York, for one-year missionary training course with CMA. Daughter Judy born Oct. 1945
- Oct. 1946
- Scheduled to leave by transatlantic steamer for first missionary assignment. Dock strike in New York delays departure for three weeks.
- Nov. 1946
- Arrives at port of Haifa in Palestine. Horace and Winnie are assigned to local outreach and Hebrew studies at CMA Reading Room in Jerusalem. Their work is interrupted and eventually cut short by civil unrest leading up to the UN's proposed partitioning of Palestine in November 1947; soon after, the Mission House where they first stayed is damaged by a bombing at the embassy next door. Son Jim born June 22, 1947, in a local British hospital after a hair-raising drive through barb-wire checkpoints.
- Jan 1948
- Evacuated from Palestine to Cyprus, under CMA and US Embassy orders. Remain in Cyprus for five months, returning in May 1948.
- 1948
- Move to Winnie's hometown of Binghamton, New York after CMA decides that return to Palestine is not possible. Son John born Sept. 1, 1948 in Johnson City, New York.
- 1948-50
- The CMA sends its furloughed missionary team on a speaking tour of CMA congregations throughout the South. The tour ends in St. Petersburg, Fla., at another CMA church in need of a pastor. Horace accepts the postion in 1949 but leaves after only one year when he begins to feel uncomfortable with some CMA doctrines.
- 1951-59
- Pastor of Hobson Memorial Baptist Church, St. Petersburg, Fla. Begins serving part-time in the National Guard as a chaplain towards the end of this tenure, ca. 1957.
- April 1959
- Begins active duty military career by reporting to Fort Benning, Ga., as a new lieutenant in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps.
- 1962-65
- Assigned to U.S. Army base in Augsburg, Germany. Promoted from Captain to Major.
- 1965-66
- Advanced training at the U.S. Army Chaplain School in Fort Hamilton, New York.
- 1966-68
- Assigned to Fort Carson, Colo. Transferred to Vietnam Nov. 1967–Nov. 1968, serving with the First Air Cavalry Division. Takes several dangerous missions, logging over 100 hours in Huey helicopter flights to remote areas.
- 1969-70
- Assigned to Fort Ord, Cal.
- 1970-73
- Assigned to the Presidio of San Francisco, Cal. Begins part-time graduate studies at San Francisco Theological Seminary.
- 1973-75
- Assigned to U.S. Army support troops in Bangkok, Thailand. Received D.Min. degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary after completion of thesis "The Development of a Southern Baptist Stance toward the Shape of the Military Chaplaincy of the Future" in 1974.
- 1976-79
- Last posting, to Fort McClellan, Ala.; retires in April 1979.
- 1979-1998
- Settles in St. Petersburg, Fla., and takes on several interim pastorate, guest preaching, and VA chaplaincy positions throughout retirement.
