Nebraska
Veterans club in NE's oldest prison is saluted at Vietnam vet reunion • Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — Every year, a wreath is placed on the grave of Beryl Zich.
It has been a solemn tradition since her death in 2005, a way to pay tribute to her love and dedication for her son, Larry, a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, who was listed as missing in action until his remains were identified in 2022.
The flowers aren’t from a traditional veterans organization, but from a group of inmates at the Nebraska State Penitentiary.
For more than 40 years, a “veterans club” has been among the betterment groups allowed to form at the state’s oldest prison.
Her boys
Along the way, the 25-40 inmates/veterans who gather twice a month behind prison walls got interested in the MIAs and prisoners of war from the Vietnam War. Eventually, they connected with Beryl Zich, the mother of an MIA, who began coming to the State Pen for their meetings.
She eventually referred to the veterans club members as “my boys” as the years passed, and as her son — who disappeared during a mission in 1972 — remained missing.
“Sometimes, I think those boys are the only ones who care,” she once remarked.
Jaime Obrecht and Roy Schoen, two long-time volunteers for the inmate club, related that story and others about the prison veterans organization at the 39th annual Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Reunion held this past weekend at the Marriott Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln.
The first motto for the State Pen veterans’ organization was “Forgotten and Disowned,” which, Schoen said, was how a lot of veterans felt back in the 1980s.
“We had a chip on our shoulder for quite a few years for how we were treated,” said Schoen, an Army veteran and a retired counselor with the veterans center in Lincoln.
He and Obrecht, a retired Lincoln teacher, first began volunteering with the prison group back in 1984, shortly after it was formed.
A war that ended 49 years ago
The Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Reunion began in 1985, Schoen said. It was organized by a group of vets who felt that a gathering would be helpful, not only to share stories and common experiences, but learn more about veterans benefits and organizations.
“There wasn’t much going on back then for (Vietnam) veterans,” he said. “Things have changed quite a bit. Slowly.”
About 300 veterans and their spouses registered for this year’s reunion, which included presentations about the State Pen’s Veterans Club, Agent Orange, a book about fallen veterans from Norfolk (see sidebar) and the evacuation from Afghanistan. The state office of Veterans Affairs also offered remarks.
There were a lot of dark-blue “Vietnam Veteran” ball caps among the participants, as well as MIA/POW shoulder patches and veterans’ reunion T-shirts. Some aging vets used canes to walk, or carried small tanks of supplemental oxygen, a testament to the advancing age of soldiers who served in a war that ended 49 years ago.
The reunion serves many of the same needs as the veterans club at the State Pen, said Schoen and Obrecht — bringing those with common experiences, and challenges, together.
The State Pen’s club has several projects besides the annual wreath on the grave of Beryl Zich, said Obrecht.
Club members have made more than 511,000 red, paper poppies for the American Legion Auxiliary, which distributes them as a tribute and fundraiser on the Friday before every Memorial Day, he said. More recently, club members have been crocheting hats and scarfs for residents of the state veterans home in Kearney.
Special housing unit
But club members have also served as mentors that “police themselves” in the sometimes challenging world of prison, Obrecht said. At times, they’ve served as informal counselors for inmates/veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress syndrome, Schoen said.
I can’t imagine what it’s like to live (in prison) … but the club gives them something to take pride in.
– Jaime Obrecht, volunteer with the veterans club at the Nebraska State Penitentiary
In 2016, the state corrections department established a special housing unit exclusively for military veterans, which the two volunteers said has been greatly appreciated by the inmates who live there.
“It really was a remarkable change,” Schoen said. “They were more relaxed, they didn’t have to deal with all the craziness in the rest of the prison.”
Obrecht said the club meetings at the State Pen are much like the meetings held by the Legion or VFW — there’s a business meeting, followed by reports on projects and then an hour for visiting.
The club holds annual programs on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, and purchased the black MIA/POW flags that fly on the flagpole at the State Pen. They also helped obtain new headstones for inmate/veterans buried at the State Pen’s cemetery outside the prison walls atop Grasshopper Hill.
He said they especially like contributing to causes that help veterans on the outside, such as the annual wreath for Beryl Zich.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like to live (in prison) … but the club gives them something to take pride in,” Obrecht said.
Not just names on The Wall
Research into the military service of his father and other relatives helped inspire retired social studies teacher Keith Walton to write about the nine soldiers from his hometown, Norfolk, who died in Vietnam.
Walton, now 71 and living in Montana, gave a presentation this weekend on his book, “The Last Full Measure: From America’s Heartland to the Battlefields of Vietnam. Remembering the Fallen from one Nebraska Town.”
Walton, who taught 27 years at Chadron, said that he’s always admired the way documentary film producer Ken Burns presented history — through the eyes of “average people,” not the generals or presidents.
So after producing papers on his father, a World War II medic, and a couple of other relatives, Walton embarked on telling the stories, in separate chapters, of the nine fallen soldiers Norfolk, “so they’re not just names on The Wall.”
He said he knew the names of a couple of the nine, but like many residents of Norfolk, didn’t know all of them — Jerry Allen, Dennis Anderson, Jerome Chandler, Roger Hunt, Jerold Meisinger, Thomas Scheurich, Steven Strube, Claude Van Andle and Michael Wemhoff.
Walton uncovered some remarkable, as well as understandably sad, stories.
Two soldiers were “enlisted by judges” who told them if they didn’t enlist, they would be going to jail for offenses.
One soldier’s mother drove weekly from Norfolk to the ordinance plant in Grand Island to put in a week of work producing bullets for war before commuting back. She continued to work even after her son perished.
Scheurich — who realized a life-long dream of being a pilot — is still listed as missing in action, although the remains of his bombardier were identified a few years ago after exploration of the 1968 crash site on an island off the coast of North Vietnam.
Nebraska
Former Nebraska wrestler AJ Ferrari wanted in Lincoln, accused of assaulting pregnant woman
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Former Nebraska wrestler AJ Ferrari is wanted in Lancaster County on suspicion of assaulting a pregnant woman in May.
An arrest warrant was filed for Ferrari on Thursday. He faces three felony charges which include first-degree false imprisonment and assault by strangling a pregnant woman.
According to an arrest affidavit, a woman from California contacted police in Lincoln on May 8 just after midnight. She told officers her daughter called for help and pointed them to Ferrari’s apartment.
Police arrived at the apartment and knocked on the door. A pregnant woman came out after several minutes of knocking with no answer. Officers said the woman was visibly upset.
She told officers that Ferrari tried taking her phone away after an argument, but she wouldn’t let him take it. The arrest affidavit shows Ferrari then dragged her off a bed by her feet.
Police think Ferrari then got on top of her and strangled her, likely until she was unconscious. The woman told police that she felt as though her throat “collapsed” and that she was “breathing through a straw.”
Once regaining consciousness, police said the woman tried hiding in a closet and contacting her mother on another device. But Ferrari followed her, pushed her onto a bed and sat on her until she apologized, according to the affidavit.
She apologized in order to be released, police said. The woman then tried to leave the apartment, but police said Ferrari dragged her by the arm back inside. She found her phone and contacted her mother, yelling “help!”, prosecutors wrote.
Ferrari grabbed the phone and hung up, according to the affidavit. The woman’s mother tried calling several more times before calling police.
Authorities transported the woman to Bryan West for treatment. Officers said she sustained injuries consistent with strangulation, including bruising around her neck and other abrasions.
Last weekend, Ferrari was arrested in Lincoln County on suspicion of flight to avoid arrest, willful reckless driving and obstructing the police. He was cited after a trooper chased a Corvette in the North Platte area.
Lincoln County authorities told KOLN that Ferrari is out on bond. His current whereabouts are unclear.
Court records show that the woman has filed for a protection order against Ferrari. A hearing has been set for July 7 to give him an opportunity to show the court why one should not be issued.
Previously, Ferrari was booked in Lancaster County, Nebraska for an outstanding warrant in January of this year, but those charges were dismissed later that week.
Ferrari parted ways with the Huskers in April of this year.
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Copyright 2026 KOLN. All rights reserved.
The Nebraska State Fair is celebrating America’s 250th anniversary with a special 72-hour flash sale on Season Passes.
From July 3 through July 5, fans can purchase a 2026 Season Pass for just $50—a significant discount from its regular value of $132.
The pass includes one admission per day for all 11 days of the 2026 Nebraska State Fair, making it ideal for visitors who plan to attend multiple days.
Fair officials say the promotion is one of the biggest Season Pass discounts offered in years and will not be extended.
After July 5, Season Passes will remain available at a higher discounted price.
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Legalizing online sports betting has met with resistance in the Nebraska Legislature for years.
Tax Relief Nebraska, a group backed by Nebraska casinos and online sports betting groups, took the issue to the people of the state through a petition drive.
Those petitions are now in, and casino officials say they expect to have enough signatures to make the November ballot — but also expect pushback through Election Day.
The case for online betting
Currently, legal sports bets cannot be placed on a phone in Nebraska. Casino operators say people who choose to wager are finding other ways to do it.
“They’re just doing it illegally through a virtual private network, or they’re driving over to the first exit between Iowa and Nebraska, placing a bet and then driving back to their home,” said Lynne McNally of Warhorse Casino.
Nebraska casino operators say the state has already collected millions of dollars in state taxes and property tax relief from casino gambling, and that online sports betting would add to that total.
A majority of Nebraskans voted for casino gambling to enter the state in 2020, and casino operators expect similar support if the online betting petition makes the November ballot.
“As you know, we got 65% on the constitutional amendment and actually got nearly 70% on the tax portion of the statute when the casinos were legalized in 2020. I think that we’ll be in that area, if not maybe a little higher than that,” McNally said.
“There’s always going to be a sector of the public that doesn’t want to gamble. They don’t want to go to our facilities and that’s just fine. I guess I have an objection with trying to tell other people what to do,” McNally said.
The opposition
The Nebraska Family Alliance stands against online gambling and plans to campaign against the initiative across the state. The nonprofit group issued a statement that reads in part: “Online sports betting has been a massive public policy failure that benefits national sportsbooks at the expense of kids, student-athletes, families and businesses. While they have more money, they don’t have the truth.”
Pat Loontjer, director of Gambling with the Good Life, has opposed expanded gambling in Nebraska for 30 years.
“They’re telling the same lie — property tax relief. Well in Nebraska you say property tax relief and everybody says where do I sign,” Loontjer said.
Loontjer also raised concerns about the impact on young people.
“Sports betting on the phone is the most addictive thing for young people, young men especially. You’ve got kids that are going to lose their scholarships, lose their future,” Loontjer said.
What comes next
If enough signatures are verified and the issue is placed on the November ballot, Warhorse Casino officials say Nebraskans could be able to make sports bets on their phones by spring of next year.
Copyright 2026 WOWT. All rights reserved.
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