Loehner presented M1 Garand in honor of his service

By Neal A. Johnson, UD Editor
Posted 1/22/25

FREEBURG   — Retired U.S. Army Ranger and Green Beret veteran MSGT Kameron Loehner, a Koeltztown native now living at Aberdeen, N.C., next to Camp Mackall in Hoffman, N.C., met with …

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Loehner presented M1 Garand in honor of his service

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FREEBURG  — Retired U.S. Army Ranger and Green Beret veteran MSGT Kameron Loehner, a Koeltztown native now living at Aberdeen, N.C., next to Camp Mackall in Hoffman, N.C., met with members of the Paul A. Hasenbeck American Legion Post 317 on Jan. 8 in Freeburg, where he was honored with the presentation of an M1 Garand.M1forVets (Missouri) Director John Colombo of Gerald presented the rifle; the non-profit grassroots organization is dedicated to recognizing combat-wounded veterans from the Gulf War to the present.

M1forVets (Missouri) Director John Colombo of Gerald presented the rifle; the non-profit grassroots organization is dedicated to recognizing combat-wounded veterans from the Gulf War to the present.

“The M1 Garand is the rifle that won World War Two,” said Colombo. “It was used in the Korean War and the beginning of the Vietnam War. It’s still used in certain theaters around the world by foreign countries and has seen battle on every continent and pretty much every area of the world it could possibly go. Gen. George S. Patton called it ‘the greatest battle implement ever devised,’ so it’s fitting that we honor our combat-wounded veterans with such a formidable weapon.”

Loehner called the experience an emotional release. “Yes, I was combat-wounded, and I carry a burden,” he said. “All of us who were wounded do. I think I was affected by what I’ve seen in my career.”

A cousin invited him to Montana, where wounded veterans can go to fish in quiet, peaceful waters as they heal. Loehner wound up being an instructor to a wounded soldier. “The program up there is to relieve you of a burden, but I felt relieved because I was helping another soldier help relieve himself of a burden,” he explained, noting he returned to help others. Though he felt good about what he was doing, there was no real emotional release. “So the weapon was being presented, and John gave a hell of a presentation, and for me to explain myself, my career path at that point in time — in front of family and friends that knew my father and my grandfather and everybody — because nobody really knew. They know I was in the military, but they don’t know the full story. It was a relief to try to explain myself to them. Nobody really understands the path I’ve taken to where I wanted to be. That was kind of a release for me to explain momentarily, and, of course, a lot of emotions ran through it.”

Loehner shared that his former Army roommate in Germany, and later at Fort Bragg, passed away. “As I’m explaining this, those emotions are running through my head,” he said. “I’d just lost one of my best friends, so it was a good release to talk about my career like that. But also, at the same time, I was releasing grief for my friend. Part of it was that my friend was a gun nut, and he would have appreciated the presentation.”

A veteran must have been wounded in action and earned a Purple Heart to qualify for the gift of an M1 Garand. “Nobody wants to be an enemy target,” said Loehner. “I just received shrapnel, and it wasn’t a big thing, but it was categorized as wounded in action. I didn’t really need a Purple Heart, but they insisted because I was wounded in action.”

A LIFE OF SERVICE

Loehner lived in Jefferson City until the age of 17, at which time his family moved to Alaska, where he finished high school as a member of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). He joined the Army on a delayed-entry program out of high school, four months before he graduated in 1989.

After completing Basic Training, Advanced Individual Training (AIT), and Airborne School, Loehner had a worldwide assignment to Germany. Once there, he volunteered to serve in the Long-Range Surveillance Unit, F Company. Loehner remained on active duty until 1995 when he joined the Missouri National Guard. He transferred to Montana National Guard in the summer of 1995 and returned to Missouri in 1999.

Loehner served as the Assistant Missouri State Marksmanship Coordinator in the Missouri National Guard, training soldiers to be snipers. Loehner clarified that while he does not officially hold the title of sniper, he trained many snipers in the National Guard for Missouri, Montana, and Arkansas. “Even though I wasn’t technically a sniper, I outshot the snipers on my team,” he said.

Loehner left active service because he was burned out, but once he returned to Missouri, he realized he had unfinished business. “I wanted to be a Ranger, and I decided I was ready to get back into it,” Loehner said.

Loehner’s reenlistment in 2000 came just ahead of the 9-11 attacks, and he’s glad he was back on the active roster. He was reassigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and later joined the 82nd Long-Range Surveillance Unit. While in the latter unit, Loehner completed Ranger School.

“It’s funny because I saw the same airport,” said Loehner, who served two tours in Iraq. “The first time, it was all shot up, and the second time, when I came back years later, it was a thriving airport.”

One of the reasons he joined the military was to see the world, and though Loehner doesn’t call it a “culture shock” per se, it took a bit to get used to the food. “I wanted to see what was out there other than rural America, central Missouri, and hog and cattle farms,” he added. “I was a very adventurous kid.”

Loehner noted that growing up, his family wasn’t wealthy, and going to a third-world country was akin to seeing his family farm. “I was just like, ‘All right, hey, I get this guys, you know, it sucks, but you know, I’ve been in a worse situation. I can think of a worse situation.’ I say that, and then when I come back here, I’m like, ‘Man, this isn’t as bad as it was over there.’ It was something that didn’t throw me off.”

While there, Loehner was tasked with team engineering because of his farming background. “My sergeant told me the place was like my farm and wanted to know how to make it work for the team,” he said. “My goal was to make the team sustainable off where we were living so we didn’t have to rely on supplies that much. We still got all the supplies we were supposed to get, but I was trying to make it sustainable where if we missed supplies, we had stuff there — you know, we had chickens, a garden, horses, cows, and a clover field. It was just things to improve our situation.”

Now a civilian contractor, Loehner works as a Lane Manager for a company called Oak Grove. He helps procure land, buildings, and so forth for Special Forces to train on away from a post.

Loehner traveled from Freeburg to Washington, D.C., to attend his friend’s funeral before returning to North Carolina. He said he would treasure the M1 Garand and the thoughtfulness behind the gift. “I really appreciate John and M1s for Vets, and what they do to support combat-wounded veterans,” Loehner said. “Thank you very much.”

WHAT MAKES THE M1 GARAND A GREAT GIFT?

Colombo explained the rifle is chambered for the .30-06 Springfield cartridge and named for its Canadian-American designer, John Garand. It was the first standard-issue autoloading rifle for the United States military.

The M1 replaced the (bolt-action) M1903 Springfield as the U.S. service rifle in 1936 and was itself replaced by the (selective-fire) M14 rifle in 1958.

Garand, who was employed at the United States Army’s Springfield Armory, ran into issues in his first attempt with the military, so he retooled it.

The first production model was successfully proof-fired, function-fired, and fired for accuracy on July 21, 1937. Production difficulties delayed deliveries to the Army until September 1937.

The M1 Garand was made in large numbers during World War II, with approximately 5.4 million completed and used by every branch of the United States military. Some Garands were still being used by the United States during the Vietnam War in 1963 and remained in service with the Army Reserve, Army National Guard, and the Navy into the early 1970s.

In his 20 years with the organization, Colombo has presented an M1 Garand to more than 160 combat-wounded veterans. He’s not sure how much longer the program will continue because there were only so many rifles manufactured.

A U.S. Navy Gulf War veteran, Colombo, explained the U.S. government used to supply weapons to Britain, Greece, and many countries around the world through the Lend-Lease program. “So the U.S. government, in their wonderful wisdom, made a little bit less than six million of these rifles between World War One and Vietnam,” he explained. “So right now, all of them in the whole world that were ever made came out of a handful of gun companies, the biggest one being Springfield Armory here in the U.S. Those rifles were all cut from one piece of steel by a machinist, and they’re beautiful weapons.”

The rifle Colombo gave Loehner was made in October 1942. “When I handed it to him, you couldn’t tell it had ever been held by a human,” he said, noting the walnut stocks come from the southern Missouri Ozarks. “They are in original factory condition out of the box.”

Colombo said he presents these rifles to identify and thank combat-wounded veterans. “We deal mainly with guys from Missouri here, and to give them a part of history and to let them know that they’re appreciated not only for their service but for their sacrifice,” he added. “Service is one thing; being hurt in the line of service is another, and that sacrifice is not something anybody signed up for. I’ve met some of the biggest heroes and Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, and they will tell you they wish they had never gotten their awards. They didn’t want to die. They didn’t want to see their buddies die. They didn’t want to get shot, blown up, stabbed, beaten, or anything else.”

What makes M1forVets unique is that its grassroots foundation means that everyone involved is a volunteer. “None of the men that work for me takes a penny in gas, time, or for anything else,” Colombo said, adding the organization asks nothing from those it serves, either. “We figured that our recipients have already given more than we ever had a right to ask for, and this is something that, with just a little bit of care, will live on for generations in their family. That’s the whole point of it. We try our best to become friends and comrades with the men and women we talk to, develop friendships, and open their worlds up to others we’ve presented rifles to.”

Special trips, such as Honor Flight, provide an opportunity to enjoin veterans on a meaningful journey. “The best and worst thing you can hear on a trip with these guys is tears, and if you hear tears, it’ll scare the crap out of you,” said Colombo. “And you have to find who’s crying because depending on who’s crying, they could be happy tears, they could be sad tears. They heal each other because they remind each other that the things they fought for were friendship and camaraderie.”

Colombo added that while it’s nice to say veterans joined the military for love of country, there are other reasons. “The truth is those were probably part of the reasons we joined,” he said. “By the time you get to the point where you’re going into combat, the men and women that matter  are those standing right beside you because if you keep them safe, they’ll keep you safe, and you get to go home.”

Finding new recipients gets more challenging every day. “That makes me happy because if I can’t find any more, I’m praying that means that there aren’t any more to be found,” said Colombo.

For the foreseeable future, however, he will continue to search for combat-wounded veterans until he either can’t find any, or the weapons are no longer available. “The M1 Garand will run out eventually, and our ability to get them will run out,” Colombo noted. “Like I said, we’re grassroots, so I’ve got a limited amount of money, and all that money has come from private citizens.”

He has been aware of Loehner for about a year and has performed his due diligence as he does with every other potential veteran. “I talk to them and understand they are who they say they are because the last thing I need is an imposter,” said Colombo. “Secondly, I would never, ever want to give somebody something that they’re going to hurt themselves or someone else with.”

Colombo added, “The project’s been really successful. I know that it has made me a better human being.”

Colombo also gave Loehner a Walking Liberty silver dollar, which is .999% pure. He noted the best purity produced in the U.S. was 80% before these silver dollars were minted. “They are given to me by one man,” said Colombo. “He’s made sure that every rifle recipient gets a silver dollar because he believes Lady Liberty on the front is striding purposefully toward the sunrise. Why is that? Because liberty should never stand still.”

An eagle on the reverse is also poignant in that Colombo believes all veterans are American Eagles. “They are the wind that keeps the flag flying,” Colombo added. “The silver dollars are intrinsic because they represent something unattainable, something that people who have not walked the walk will never understand. It’s something you can pass on to someone. And it’s not just a silver dollar; to veterans, it’s like a challenge coin. When I gave Kameron his coin, he cried, and that’s a hard thing to make a guy like that cry. He explained to me that it was emotional because he’s always taught his daughter to collect silver, something made by God that nobody can make less valuable.”

M1forVets continues to raise funds to pay for these rifles, which cost about $1,200 each.