40 & 8 veterans present scholarship gift

[July 03, 2015]  LINCOLN - Monday evening members of the Logan County Voiture #985 of the 40 & 8 presented Lincoln College with a $10,000 gift to add to the organization’s endowed scholarship at the College. The scholarship provides tuition assistance for Lincoln College pre-nursing students from Lincoln and Logan County. The gift brings the 40 & 8’s total scholarship endowment to $50,000. The College awards the 40 & 8 scholarship to multiple students each year.

The 40 & 8, known by its French name La Society des Quarante Hommes et Huit Cheaux, is a veterans’ organization that started when American soldiers returned from France after World War I. The troops had traveled in French box cars which were much smaller than U.S. rail cars and held just 40 men or 8 horses. After the war, chapters of the 40 & 8 undertook to support charitable causes, including nurses training programs because of their appreciation for the nurses who had cared for them during and after the war.

Between the 1950s and 1990s, the Logan County chapter of the 40 & 8 had a student loan program which helped about 150 local students attend nursing school. In 2002 the group made their first gift to endow a pre-nursing scholarship at Lincoln College.

Presenting the check on behalf of the 40 & 8 were Harold Aper, Melvin Aper, Bernard Behrends, Neil Klokkenga, and Harold Krusemark. Accepting on behalf of Lincoln College were President David Gerlach and Vice Presidents Debbie Ackerman and Rick Samuels.

In accepting the gift, President Gerlach remarked, “Every human being, at one time or another, will need a nurse. Thank you for what you’ve done to help young people who aspire to help us all.”

[Tracy Bergin, Lincoln College]