First Post Home
American Legion Post 142 met in the basement of the Mason City Post Office for years. Between 1947 and 1948, the Legion members moved to the basement of the Mason State Bank and remodeled it. For many years they operated a Legion Club there. In 1974, after the Mason City Fire Hall was built, they moved the stove and refrigerator, tables and chairs to the meeting room and met there.
Flag Honor Guard
The first Homecoming Celebration was held in 1919 to honor World War I veterans. Every year since then the American Legion Post 142 Flag Honor Guard leads the Homecoming parade. The flag is raised on the Memorial Park flag pole as the Flag Honor Guard stand at attention for the National Anthem. They also march in the local festivals of other town in the area.
Youth Programs
Mason City Legion Post 142 has had a positive effect on the youth of the community for many years by its involvement in sponsoring numerous programs. The post sponsored a Legion Baseball Team for many years as well as teams for younger boys. With the help of the Community Service Club, they are able to send a young man to Lincoln to participate in the prestigious Cornhusker Boys State. The post also sponsors the annual County Government Day, a program that provides students with a chance to learn about their local government and its operation. In addition to Boys State and County Government, American Legion Post 142 sponsors a high school student to attend the week-long Junior Law Cadet Program at the Nebraska State Patrol Training Facility in Grand Island. Post members also volunteer at the grade school Field Day at the end of each school year.
Memorial Day
Every year, American Legion Post 142 is in charge of the local Memorial Day program and members decorate the graves of deceased members and place American flags at each grave. The program was originally held at the school auditorium with The American Legion advancing the colors and music played by the Beechville Band. A special speaker would provide remarks and a traditional Roll Call of those who gave their lives for their country would be read. Following the program, the American Legion Color Guard and the Beechville Band lead the procession to the cemetery for the decoration of the graves and the gun salute. In the late 1970s however, the Color Guard and Beechville Band could no longer make the march from the school to the cemetery so today the entire program is conducted at the cemetery. It is also customary practice during the ceremony for a local church pastor/priest to take turns being the special program speaker. For many years, Legion members Orion Johnson and Robert Holms played taps and Milford Johnson played the drum roll during the traditional Roll Call.
The Roll Call for Veterans was done by War and which cemetery they were buried in. The list of cemeteries are Mason City Cemetery; Weaver Cemetery; Coffman Cemetery; Basin Cemetery; Miller Cemetery; Ansley Cemetery; Broken Bow Cemetery; Riverton WY Cemetery; Fort McPherson Cemetery (Maxwell); Arlington National Cemetery; and France. As with everything the Roll Call names list was changed and the names are now read together by War.
Special Recognition
Over the years, American Legion Post 142 has been the recipient of special recognition including receiving a plaque on January 1, 1973 for the largest percentage of permanent members in the American Legion in Nebraska. In 1979, Roy Banning and Frank O’Brien, charter members of Post 142, each received plaques for 60 years of membership in The American Legion.
In May 2004, World War II Veterans were honored with a special dinner and received pictures of the new WWII Memorial in Washington DC. They held a flag burning ceremony on August 2004 when 150 torn and frayed flags were disposed of in an impressive ceremony in Memorial Park.
Taking Care of Veterans
Paul Coffman Post #142 has been taking care of the needs of local veterans for many years. For example, post members brought food at Christmas time to a veteran who had polio and was confined to a wheel chair. That veteran was coincidentally the father of Post Adjutant Edith Runyan-Deuel. The post also helped a fellow Legionnaire who had broken his leg when his hogs need worked.
For many years the post had a Pancake/Sausage feed to raise money to support its programs.
