Miss Nebraska visits vets

Local Legion members honor Vic Michel

By Steve Moseley Regional Editor

Reigning Miss Nebraska Allison Tietjen, chatting with Sue Volkmer from McCool Junction, was a special guest at the American Legion Steak Fry on Wednesday evening.
News-Times/Steve Moseley

YORK – Allison Tietjen, a senior at UNL, is a staunch supporter of veterans. One other thing about Tietjen; she is also Miss Nebraska 2017.

Tietjen was the special guest of local veterans for their annual steak fry Wednesday night at the 4-H Building on the fairgrounds.

The small town girl from Chester chatted with veterans and their wives before the rib-eyes were served up, spoke from the podium after the meal and then remained following the festivities to visit awhile longer.

The evening included a slide presentation and narrative by Rich Hankel from the recent Vietnam Honor Flight in which York-area veterans participated.

Hankel said the 653 vets were taken to visit their monument in Washington, D.C. aboard four airplanes. The rent of $87,500 per airplane in addition to other expenses of the adventure was all covered by more than $1 million in donations.

The Nebraska invasion of D.C., said Hankel, is the largest single group of vets to have ever visited the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

During the evening Vic Michel was applauded for his accomplishment of 75 continuous years as an American Legion member.

Tietjen, only a few weeks distant from representing Nebraska at the Miss America competition in Atlantic City, N.J., won the 2017 Miss Nebraska title last June in North Platte.

She was first in the evening wear competition for her selection of a full-length, white gown bejeweled in gemstones. Tietjen also won the talent contest for her rendition of “Phantom of the Opera” at the piano.

Her pageant platform, “United We Stand, Honoring our Military,” pays homage to her late grandfather, a U.S. Marine who served proudly in Korea.

Article continued below advertisement

Then just 16 years old, Tietjen learned of plans for an honor flight out of Omaha for Korea veterans and began raising money among high school students in the state to “send another grandpa” because her own had just passed away, missing his own opportunity to visit the moving memorial to his war.

Tietjen raised $4,000 for the flight and, by then age 17, was honored herself to be invited aboard to make the trip as a guardian assistant.

More recently as a pre-Miss Nebraska college student she solicited donations via emails to “about 500 high school principals,” receiving responses from “about 15,” she said with a laugh.

All totaled Tietjen has personally raised donations, accompanied and assisted veterans on three honor flights and a fourth in-state flight just for kids.

Her choice of platform was an easy decision to make, she told her York audience, “I wanted to honor the men and women who made America so great.”

http://www.yorknewstimes.com/news/miss-nebraska-visits-vets/article_6ea79a4a-a4bd-11e7-a430-6b2a9b19e624.html