Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Western Star Lodge No. 26 will host a program at 7 p.m. March 19 on the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and the Women’s Relief Corp. (WRC) in the dining room at the Lodge.

Presenting will be Vince and Theresa Bergdale. They have studied the Civil War and attended Civil War re-enactments for many years as Civil War soldiers from the Minnesota First Regiment as well as Grand Army of the Republic and Women’s Relief Corps personnel.

Most people don’t realize when the Civil War ended, there were no veteran’s hospitals, Veterans of Foreign Wars or American Legions to offer assistance to veterans. This is what the GAR and WRC were developed to do — assist wounded soldiers and those with war trauma.

The Women’s Relief Corps is still active today. This is part of American history that is not being taught in schools.

While there is no cost to attend the presentation, a free will gift box will be put out for those who want to contribute. Theresa Bergdale uses donations to restore grave sites of Civil War Veterans.

The presentation will be about an hour with time for questions and to see some of the memorabilia they have from this era.