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History Of VFW Post 1753
Fred S. Pennington
 
     On October 10th, 1929, Fred S. Pennington was honored Posthumously by a VFW Post, which later became known as Veterans of Foreign Wars, Fred S. Pennington Post 1753, which was Chartered on November 9th, 1929.
     A Veteran of four wars starting with the enlistment in the Spanish American war in 1898, thru World War 1, until the Armistice in 1919.
     He arrived in Las Vegas on April 1st, 1926. He bought the Las Vegas Funeral Home, which he owned until his death. He was a member of American Legion Post #8, as well as several fraternal organizations.
     Fred S. Pennington's wife, Edith Pennington Bettelmein, was a Chartered member of Post 1753 Ladies Auxiliary as well as their first President. The Auxiliary was Chartered on November 21st, 1931.
     The story in the Las Vegas Sun of 5-27-2002, many thanks to Mike O'Callaghan, Executive Editor, and reporter Ed Koch, will help us to understand the history of Fred S. Pennington, the youngest Veteran of four U.S. Wars, who gave his life for his country.
Pennington was born May 17, 1881, in Shenandoah, Iowa. At age 17 he joined the Army and fought in the Spanish American War in 1898. Pennington was among the American troops who fought against rebel Phillippine forces under the Command of Emilio Aguinaldo, who on Feb. 4th, 1899, declared war on the United States to have him recognized as President of an independent Philippines. Aguinaldo was captured on March 23, 1901, and swore allegiance to the United States, ending that much-forgotten conflict.
     In 1916-17, Pennington fought in the Mexican-American War. On April 2nd, 1918 Pennington arrived in Europe to fight in World War 1 until the Armistice in 1919. He was gassed twice by the Germans.
     After the war doctors told an ailing Pennington he needed to live in a drier climate. He settled in Las Vegas on April 1st 1926, and for a while his health improved. He became not only a mortician, but also a civic leader, joining the Rotary, Elks and Eagles clubs and serving as a Boy Scout leader.
     Lingering complications of the gas poisoning, however, complicated a throat ailment, and Pennington died on Oct 7th 1929, at his Las Vegas home at age 48.