Homage to Veterans
by Mari Radtke
The Paullina Legion Auxiliary hosted an open house at the Paullina Legion Building on Saturday November 9. The main event was a soup supper and cash bar. A dozen flavors of soup were offered along with many flavors of homemade pies, treats, and an assortment of bread accompaniments. The food was donated by Legion Auxiliary members.
Two collectors set up displays sharing part of their collections, Steve Rupert of Paullina and Body Bailey of Sutherland. Rupert has collected for years. Steve is the child and grandchild of veterans. His interest in military paraphernalia began in junior high school. In addition to the admiration for his veteran father and playing with toy soldiers as a child, Rupert says what really triggered his interest in was “Hogan’s Heroes.” It led to a lifetime of passionate, largely WWI and WWII collections. He enjoyed a lot of the gun and military shows with Howard Krause.
Although he has sold much of his World War era weaponry and no longer buys, he does keep selected items at his home. That’s his his option despite always having a secret dream of a Paullina military museum. He will bring out some pieces for shows such as the one Saturday.
Body Bailey is a senior at South O’Brien High School. Body is an avid reader, spending a lot of time at the library. One day he picked up a war book and loved them. He finds war history “really neat.” Those are what he reads now, almost exclusively. One day he found his grandfather’s WWII memorabilia stuff while looking through family stuff.
Some of Bailey’s collection is from his family members. He has original items he’s found at a variety of places, thrift stores, military surplus stores, shows and auctions. He also has reproductions in his collection too. Most of that is from more recent military eras than the World Wars. He keeps most of it in his room when it is not on display. His collection includes cooking tools, cots, coats & hats, suitcases and more.
Representatives for the Honor Flight attended. They shared information about the program, its history and purpose. Honor Flight gives day trips to veterans at Washington D.C. to visit the various war memorials and to visit other significant landmarks. The flights, meals, escorts and tours are free to members of the Honor Flight, all paid by donations.
They brought a table full of cupcake 6-paks, a major fundraiser for the organization. Upon leaving, they shared that they had a very successful evening from the very generous people of Paullina.