Message From Our Chaplain
Solon American Legion Stinocher Post 460
Veteran-Owned and Serving You Since 1902
At Solon American Legion Stinocher Post 460, we know how much it means to serve. As a veteran-owned organization, we are committed to meeting the needs of those in our community. We’ve been open since 1902, and that means we’ve spent over 120 years helping people right here in Solon, IA.
As part of our mission, we are open to the public for meals, special events, and more. To learn more about Solon American Legion Stinocher Post 460 and what we’re all about, read this recent letter from our chaplain from December 2024.
A Message From Chaplain Doug Thompson
This month, while we celebrate our nation's independence, please take some time to reflect on the sacrifices that have been made to preserve our freedoms. To help you focus on those sacrifices, I will share with you a short story about one Solon family's sacrifice that is memorialized on Solon's Freedom Rock. Actually, the family made two sacrifices; they lost two sons during World War Two.
2nd Lt Paul Pavel, along with the B-24 bomber he was co-piloting, and the entire flight crew disappeared over the Pacific Ocean during a training mission on May 29, 1943. One year and eight days later on June 6, 1944 (D-Day) 2nd Lt Lester (Les) Pavel's B-24 bomber crashed into the English Channel after a mid-air collision with another plane.
The War Department's first telegrams that were sent to Les and Paul's parents were short and to the point but they provided a small ray of hope. The two telegrams read that their sons were listed as “Missing in Action.” Later, after further review by the Army Air Corps, the second set of telegrams was a bit longer. The telegrams now listed their sons as “Killed in Action, and their remains were non-recoverable.” Later the Army Air Corps shipped home their sons' personal effects along with a Purple Heart medal for their son Les. Even though the last telegrams officially listed their sons as killed, Joseph and Margaret Pavel still clung to a modicum of hope; a lingering hope that lasted long after their beloved sons' headstones were placed in Solon's Saint Mary Cemetery marking graves that contained no bodies. The lack of bodies only compounded the hope and grief of both parents.
Les and Paul's parents never gave up hope despite the official telegrams and the headstones that rested in the cemetery. Both parents prayed and hoped endlessly that their sons one day might come home, or at the very least, their bodies would be recovered and sent to them.
Joseph and Margaret treasured the memories of two young boys who once filled their kitchen with life as they ate their family meals together. The empty chairs that now sat around the kitchen table became stark daily reminders of their loss. Those sweet memories only added sorrow to the quiet pall that hung heavy in the kitchen.
Les and Paul's father, Joseph, never gave up hope even though he seldom spoke of his sons in his later years. Margaret's hope and the longing to hold her sons one more time stayed with Les and Paul's mother to the very end of her life. As she drew her last breath at the age of 96, she spoke her last words in a longing, soft, loving voice she called out, “Boys, boys.”
The price of our freedom is paid with more than blood; it is also paid with broken hearts.
Doug Thompson, Chaplain
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