March 29, 2024

Vietnam War Veterans Day to be celebrated at courthouse

Veterans groups will start a new tradition next week in Jasper County as they recognize National Vietnam War Veterans Day on Thursday. Last year President Donald Trump moved to mark the day as an official holiday and this will be the first time local veterans groups have observed the event.

During Wednesday’s monthly meeting of the Jasper County Veterans Affairs Commission director Kurt Jackson said his office was planning to hold a short ceremony on the courthouse grounds in conjunction the Jasper County Vietnam Veterans Alliance.

Four Jasper County residents and two former residents were killed in Vietnam. Doug Bishop, president of the JCVVA, said organizers plan to recognize those individuals during the ceremony. The color guard will present the flag and lead a gun salute at the event, which is planned to start at 5:30 p.m. The ceremony will also commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive, one of the largest military campaigns of the war. Bishop said he isn’t sure how many people the event will draw, but he said it doesn’t matter.

“There may be 10, there may be a hundred, either way we’re going to be honoring the veterans,” Bishop said.

Jackson said his office looked into renting the auditorium at Newton’s DMACC campus to hold the ceremony, but ultimately decided to hold the event at the courthouse. He said he’s hoping the event will grow into a bigger celebration next year. Commissioner Marta Ford said she wants to see more publicity for the event because she’s concerned most people won’t realize what’s going on.

“I think it’s kind of short notice, people will just be driving by and wondering what’s going on,” Ford said.

The board also took the first steps toward finding a replacement commissioner after commissioner Jerome Gunderson resigned last month. Also, three of the four remaining commissioners will finish out their terms on June 30. Ford, Sue Springer and Jerry Nelson have all indicated they’re willing to continue to serve on the board, but the request has to be approved by the board of supervisors first. Working under a new policy which was designed to ensure the board following statewide fair hiring practices, Jackson has been advertising for a replacement commissioner, and he’s seen an increase in interest for the position. The board’s advertisements still have a week to run but Jackson already has six applicants for the position and two other individuals who’ve expressed an interest in applying.

“I think there’s a lot of interest in trying to help veterans in Jasper County,” Jackson said.

On Wednesday Ford moved to bring the monthly meeting into closed session to allow the board to discuss the applications they’ve received so far. The commissioners will need to wait another week until the window to apply closes, but Ford said she was eager to get the review process underway.

“If we don’t do it today it’s going to be another month,” Ford said. “We won’t vote without Fred [Dimon] but at least we can review the candidates.”

Filling Gunderson’s seat on the commission is a top priority for the board. Jackson said the board may consider holding an emergency meeting sometime in the next month so commissioners can decide which candidates they want to present to the board of supervisors. By meeting early the board could possibly fill the vacant seat before their next meeting, scheduled for April 11.

“At the last meeting Fred [Dimon] said we’d be lucky to get one or two, and we’ve already got six,” Jackson said.

Contact David Dolmage at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or ddolmage@newtondailynews.com