August 28, 2022 — This week, Army National Guard Veteran, Master Sergeant Jake Spangenberg of Neenah becomes the ninth Wisconsin veteran to receive a Harley-Davidson motorcycle as part of the Hogs For Heroes program. This gifting marks the 31st injured Wisconsin Veteran that Hogs For Heroes has supported in their now sixth year of retuning freedom to those who fought for ours. This is the second bike sponsored and fully paid for by the charitable hearts of the Tavern League of Wisconsin (TLW) and its members.
Hogs For Heroes will take the stage at Willie Beamon’s Bar & Grill in Neenah at 11 a.m. to hand over the keys to the awesome Road King that Spangenberg chose from House of Harley in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Family and brotherhood have always been important to Master Sergeant Jacob Spangenberg. He enlisted in the Army National Guard as a junior in high school (1998) for the tuition support the military would provide. In 2003, while loading equipment on a weekend drill, Jake experienced immediate pain in his lower back. He was a young, invincible guy; so he rested his back awhile, went on with his life and just dealt with aches and pains that wouldn’t go away. It wasn’t until 14 years later when he suddenly couldn’t walk and required emergency surgery, that he learned he had herniated two lower discs that impacted his sciatic nerve. As before, his bike moved him through pain; and this time, it led him to the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association (CVMA) in the Fox Valley area. He immediately bonded with a group that welcomed, understood, and supported him, and his wife; and it gave him a feeling of camaraderie he’d not had since leaving his first Unit. In the fall of 2021, Spangenberg’s 21-year-old bike started having transmission problems. Believing he could affordably fix the situation himself, he tried, then tried some more. And by the following summer the old transmission was smoking and required replacement. Hogs for Heroes, with some help from the TLW believes that supporting Spangenberg’s ongoing healing would best be addressed by keeping him riding on the path he’s forged.
Hogs For Heroes started in 2015 with the goal of giving one bike a year to a selected Wisconsin veteran. Since then, this small, family nonprofit has put a total of 31 injured Wisconsin veteran riders back on the road with beautiful Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Volunteers work year-round to raise funds for bikes to gift during Wisconsin’s riding season. The TLW has supported this mission and is already working toward funding another bike in 2023!
Hogs for Heroes Presentation
Willie Beamon’s Bar & Grill, Neenah, WI
Sunday, August 28, 2022
10 a.m. to 1 pm.
Presentation of Keys Ceremony at 11 a.m. with Color Guard by The American Legion Post 187