209366631 – Page 11 – The American Legion Bennington Nebraska Post 266

October 4, 2019

The new American Legion Act Membership

The new American Legion Act Membership is now open to any service member with 1 day active duty service and an honorable discharge can join the American Legion. Also a non service spouse can join the Auxiliary. This primarily was enacted for males with a female service member. New application forms are being printed for post use ,

October 4, 2019

Annual Fall Round Up

Will be 10-12-19, at the Papillion Post 32, at Noon.

October 4, 2019October 4, 2019

American Legion post 112 pancake feed

October 5 the Benson Squadron #112 will serve a pancake breakfast from 8-12 with pancakes, eggs and sausage at a cost of $5.00 per person. The event will be served at Benson VFW Post #2503 at 8904 Military Ave.

September 10, 2019

Fundraiser – Linda Christianson (Christianson Trash)

Sun, Sep 15, 4:30 PM – 7:30 PM

Bennington High School

We’ve got Sunday dinner taken care of for you! Please join us to support a well known local family.

August 10, 2019

Interesting perspective from a Vietnamese Immigrant

The difference between legal and illegal. This is something everyone in America should read….It looks like we did some good after all!

On Saturday, July 24th, 2010 the town of Prescott Valley, AZ, hosted a Freedom Rally. Quang Nguyen was asked to speak on his experience of coming to America and what it means. He spoke the following in dedication to all Vietnam Veterans. Thought you might enjoy hearing what he had to say:

Start Quote:

35 years ago, if you were to tell me that I am going to stand up here speaking to a couple thousand patriots, in English, I’d laugh at you. Man, every morning I wake up thanking God for putting me and my family in the greatest country on earth. I just want you all to know that the American dream does exist and I am living the American dream. I was asked to speak to you about my experience as a first generation Vietnamese-American, but I’d rather speak to you as an American.

If you hadn’t noticed, I am not white and I feel pretty comfortable with my people. I am a proud US citizen and here is my proof. It took me 8 years to get it, waiting in endless lines, but I got it, and I am very proud of it.

I still remember the images of the Tet offensive in 1968, I was six years old. Now you might want to question how a 6-year-old boy could remember anything. Trust me, those images can never be erased. I can’t even imagine what it was like for young American soldiers, 10,000 miles away from home, fighting on my behalf.

35 years ago, I left South Vietnam for political asylum. The war had ended At the age of 13, I left with the understanding that I may or may not ever get to see my siblings or parents again. I was one of the first lucky 100,000 Vietnamese allowed to come to the US. Somehow, my family and I were reunited 5 months later, amazingly, in California. It was a miracle from God.

If you haven’t heard lately that this is the greatest country on earth, I am telling you that right now. It was the freedom and the opportunities presented to me that put me here with all of you tonight. I also remember the barriers that I had to overcome every step of the way. My high school counselor told me that I cannot make it to college due to my poor communication skills. I proved him wrong. I finished college. You see, all you have to do is to give this little boy an opportunity and encourage him to take and run with it. Well, I took the opportunity and here I am.

This person standing tonight in front of you could not exist under a socialist/communist environment. By the way, if you think socialism is the way to go, I am sure many people here will chip in to get you a one-way ticket out of here. And if you didn’t know, the only difference between socialism and communism is an AK-47 aimed at your head. That was my experience.

In 1982, I stood with a thousand new immigrants, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and listening to the National Anthem for the first time as an American. To this day, I can’t remember anything sweeter and more patriotic than that moment in my life.

Fast forwarding, somehow I finished high school, finished college, and like any other goofball 21 year old kid, I was having a great time with my life I had a nice job and a nice apartment in Southern California. In some way and somehow, I had forgotten how I got here and why I was here.

One day I was at a gas station, I saw a veteran pumping gas on the other side of the island. I don’t know what made me do it, but I walked over and asked if he had served in Vietnam. He smiled and said yes. I shook and held his hand. This grown man’s eyes began to well up. I walked away as fast as I could and at that very moment, I was emotionally rocked. This was a profound moment in my life. I knew something had to change in my life. It was time for me to learn how to be a good citizen. It was time for me to give back.

You see, America is not just a place on the map, it isn’t just a physical location. It is an ideal, a concept. And if you are an American, you must understand the concept, you must accept this concept, and most importantly, you have to fight and defend this concept. This is about Freedom and not free stuff. And that is why I am standing up here

Brothers and sisters, to be a real American, the very least you must do is to learn English and understand it well. In my humble opinion, you cannot be a faithful patriotic citizen if you can’t speak the language of the country you live in. Take this document of 46 pages – last I looked on the Internet, there wasn’t a Vietnamese translation of the U.S. Constitution. It took me a long time to get to the point of being able to converse and until this day, I still struggle to come up with the right words. It’s not easy, but if it’s too easy, it’s not worth doing

Before I knew this 46-page document, I learned of the 500,000 Americans who fought for this little boy. I learned of the 58,000 names inscribed on the black wall at the Vietnam Memorial. You are my heroes. You are my founders.

At this time, I would like to ask all the Vietnam veterans to please stand. I thank you for my life. I thank you for your sacrifices, and I thank you for giving me the freedom and liberty I have today. I now ask all veterans, firefighters, and police officers, to please stand On behalf of all first generation immigrants, I thank you for your services and may God bless you all.

Quang Nguyen
Creative Director/Founder
Caddis Advertising, LLC
“God Bless America”
“One Flag, One Language, One Nation Under God”

August 4, 2019August 4, 2019

The American Legion post 266 donation to Douglas County long term disaster group

The American Legion post 266 donation to Douglas County long term disaster group of $1,000.00. This donation is to help Flood relief victims.

The Flood relief organization has helped 294 people, with 8 people living in cars, 266 families, 26 people living is RV’s, one person living in their place of employment, 2 veterans helped, one person that was helped was 88 years old. The Flood relief organization covers 106 square miles.

Pictured below, left to right, The American Legion post 266 Commander Richard Musel, President of the Douglas County long term disaster group, Dr. Steven Youngberg-Adjutant, The American Legion post 266.

July 26, 2019

The American Legion Post 266 Seniors won the Area 3 District in Blair

The American Legion Post 266 Seniors won the Area 3 District in Blair the other night to make it to state in Gering NE. They will be heading out this afternoon and their first game is at 1pm MT , 2pm central tomorrow, 7-27-19.

They hope to represent Bennington and The American Legion Post 266 well and bring home the gold!!!

July 23, 2019July 23, 2019

Scholarship Winners from the American Legion 2019

Scholarship Winners from the American Legion 266 left to right: JJ Rischling, received the Mel Valasek Scholarship, Benjamin Martin, received the Bob Catron Scholarship & Cooper Prososki, received a scholarship from American Legion Post #266.