Legion boss makes a difference

Legion National Commander visits SE

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- National American Legion Commander John A. Brieden III of Texas added a personal touch to his breakfast speech Wednesday at the Servicemen's Club.

Brieden told the story of his relationship with his father who was wounded several times in World War I.

"I'll never forget dad's letters from the war," Brieden said. "He told me a lot."

His father got very lonely after Brieden's mother died of cancer, so he began asking women from his church out to dinner. After years of looking for a suitable mate, his father re-married.

"It was good for them," Brieden said. "They had a great life together."

The couple lived in a remote part of Texas. The nearest hospital was 100 miles away and the nearest doctor was 50 miles distant.

Brieden's step-mother had two heart attacks before he talked his father into moving to a larger town. Trouble was, the couple was far from their friends.

His father told the family that Brieden would always be nearby to take care of him. That wasn't the case when he began climbing the American Legion political ladder.

Brieden traveled all over Texas to speaking engagements and visits to Veteran's Administration clinics and hospitals.

"My dad looked at me and said I had a problem," Brieden said. "He said my problem was that I really thought I could make a difference. Well, he was right. One person can make one heck of a difference."

Brieden added that the American Legion was formed to take care of veterans and their widows and orphans.

"We work with kids to change things," Brieden said. "Veterans programs help national security and youth programs. Nobody else has the programs we do and can touch families like the American Legion does. Without the American Legion, we'd be a much poorer country. I hope you're as proud of it as I am."

A U.S. Army veteran, Brieden served as an Infantry Officer from 1972-1977. He attended Ranger, Airborne, Jungle Warfare and Arctic Warfare schools.

After leaving the Army, he went into the insurance business and was designated a Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow. He was named the Central Texas Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors Man of the Year in 1993.

Nationally with the American Legion, Brieden chaired the National Legislative, Economic, Foreign Relations and Americanism Commissions.