Legion’s Sept. 11 breakfast honors first responders

The Bandera American Legion Post 157 held its quarterly community breakfast on Saturday morning.

The Legion decorated the hall to remember the twentieth anniversary of the 911 tragedy.

The community came out in large numbers to eat biscuits and gravy, custom made omelets, waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage, orange juice and coffee.

The delicious fare is part of an effort to provide weekend breakfast to veterans and other community members. It is also a time to share memories with neighbors and community spirit.

Post Commander Susan Junker walked around refilling coffee cups and chatting with diners.

Local musician Jim Turner provided musical accompaniment to the breakfast on his keyboard. His selection of songs included military tunes, pop hits and gospel numbers. As he played several songs, the breakfast group quietly joined in singing with him to the popular hymns, providing a swell of good feelings. Turner played and sang with smooth harmony during the entirety of the breakfast, a wonderful addition to the community meal.

Susan Pevateaux, a member of the Legion Auxiliary, came to the breakfast to provide community support and to take part in the fellowship.

She shared that she was at work when the announcement was made about the first plane to hit the World Trade Center Building.

“We watched the second plane hit on the TV,” she quietly said. “We should commemorate this every year for all the policemen and fire fighters that sacrificed their lives. This is something we should do every year of our lives.”

Pevateaux added the Legion Auxiliary took cakes to the Bandera Marshall’s Office, the EMS Office and the Bandera County Sheriff’s Office in honor of September 11.

“These groups sacrifice a lot every day for our community. They should be supported and recognized,” she stated.

Veteran Robert Rodriguez spoke about his feelings on 9/11.

“We should celebrate and support veterans in recognition of 9/11,” he said.

Rodriguez, a former employee of the Federal Highway Administration, was at a joint meeting of the FHA and the State Highway Administration in Corpus Christi when he heard about the terrorist attack.

“I thought it was another domestic incident. I had worked in the Murrow Building in Oklahoma City and I thought 9/11 was something similar to that,” he recounted.

Clearly emotional, Rodriguez commented that he felt the country let us down by not preventing such a terroristic plot. The emotion and memories of the tragedy were clearly close to Rodriguez’ heart on such a sad day.

The Bandera American Legion sponsors this quarterly breakfast from 8 a.m. to noon to provide community spirit and fellowship for veterans, and community members. It also holds weekly Bingo nights on Wednesdays when the doors open at 6 PM. Bargain Days, a community flea market, are held the third Saturday of the month.