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.
