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But it should. And if you think about it for a moment, it does. It
does because the moment that first group of World War I and World
War II vets proudly named it after Peter and Edward Cronin, two
local brothers killed in World War I, it meant everything, not only
to the vets, but to the community as well.
It became not only a place where our veterans could gather; it
honored two from our community who gave the full measure of
sacrifice with their deaths.
It turned from being a building into a lasting tribute to
recognize and formalize that we remember, we never forget all those
who fought and died or who have fought and lived for our freedoms.
It became still more with the coming of every other veteran over
eight decades who served our country nobly and upon coming home
decided Post 1756 was their post.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Cronin Brothers Post 1756 is in
jeopardy of being lost, and that should have every person in this
community who for a moment is proud to be an American ready to pitch
in and prevent this from happening.
The veterans fell into a precarious situation like so many other
businesses and families have these past few years. They took on an
expansion with the hope of being able to offer a better, more modern
facility for the community to use, not realizing a recession would
shrink revenues past the point of sustainability.
And so they don't see a way out of their financial problems
without an infusion of cash to save their home, their meeting place
-- our home, our meeting place -- and we must help.
The membership, including the auxiliary, are all scrappers, and
they have a plan in motion to get their finances back on track and
put the post on solid financial ground for the foreseeable future.
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But that plan will mean nothing, it will do nothing without all of
us getting involved. There are many ways we all can help, and they
all can make the difference to the vets.
Businesses can donate goods or services for the auctions.
Volunteers can offer to sell raffle tickets or 50/50 tickets at
their business or within their sphere of influence.
People can send donations to the VFW Building Fund, care of State
Bank of Lincoln.
But there is still more we can all do.
We can decide to be present on Jan. 30 at the VFW to donate and
to buy and to support the veterans' efforts. Schools can decide to
have a day of collecting money for the vets. Churches and church
groups can say, "We won't let this happen. Let's pitch in and make
sure it doesn't."
Clubs, civic organizations and even neighborhoods can
collectively help get the VFW's mortgage paid down as well.
No one person or business needs to do it all. We all just need to
do a small portion and the post will be saved. These are our
veterans we are talking about. We can't let them down. They didn't
let us down when they served us and our country. It is our time to
repay their sacrifices with a small one of ours. Together we will.
It's what we do as a community.
[By
MIKE FAK]
Click here to respond to the editor about this article.
See related article in Top Stories:
Veterans
fight to save VFW post, look to the community for help |
