Letter: Story on veteran was appreciated

Tuesday, March 16, 2004 | 9:40 a.m.

Here at the Fred S. Pennington Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 1753, we have been reading with interest the memorials to the late Gov. Mike O'Callaghan, who went on to become the Sun's executive editor for 25 years. Two years ago, knowing of O'Callaghan's status as a veteran, including his heroic service during the Korean War, we asked him if the Sun could do a story on the man our post is named for.

The result, on Memorial Day 2002, was a story by Sun reporter Ed Koch headlined, "An old soldier kept from fading away." It was the history on how our post, at 705 Las Vegas Blvd. North, got its name. Everyone in Nevada had a chance to read this.

When I first contacted Mike O'Callaghan about this, he became very interested. And the more we talked the more interested he became. The article was very informative even to many of our own members, who had not previously known about Fred Pennington's service during the Spanish American War, the Mexican-American War and World War I. After World War I, Pennington settled in Las Vegas, where he ran a funeral home and became a civic leader.

We wanted to pass on to your readers what Mike did for our post. We will always appreciate it.

SY G. KELLOGG