Jasper County veterans arrive in droves for recognition day at State Capitol

Everywhere you looked you saw a Jasper County veteran. They arrived to the Iowa State Capitol on a pair of buses. Several others drove their own vehicles with families or were chauffeured with a son or daughter. Many wore red or yellow T-shirts with the words “Jasper County Veteran” stitched over their hearts.

It is estimated about a hundred veterans from Jasper County attended the Iowa Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day on May 14. The annual ceremony takes place on the south side of the capitol grounds near the Iowa Vietnam War Memorial Wall. Local veterans say it is quite the ordeal and it draws big crowds.

“I’ve been there once before,” said Vietnam veteran David Elliott. “We go out there and they have someone come in to give a speech, and it’s recognition for people like me that have served their country. To me, it feels good to be recognized. Things were not favorable for us fellas when we came back.”

John Wennihan, a fellow Vietnam era veteran, said many returning soldiers back then made a conscious decision to not wear any regalia or clothing that would give people the impression they served during the war. They thought they were better off keeping their service a secret. Thankfully, sentiments have changed.

“It makes a fella finally feel good,” Elliott said.

Nowhere was that more evident than the Iowa Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day ceremony. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds attended the ceremony and read aloud her proclamation. Retired United State Marine Corps Col. Gerald “Gerry” Berry told war stories. The crowd was big, just like the veterans said it would be.

Veterans saluted their nation’s flag during the National Anthem and the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. Listen closely and you could hear a muffled “Oorah!” from old Marines. Gold Star Families — which are families who lost a loved one serving in the military — were recognized for their resilience.

Jewel Gullett, of Newton, is part a Gold Star Family. Her brother, Rollin Davis, was killed in Vietnam in 1968. She still tears up thinking about her brother. She attended the ceremony in Des Moines to honor not only her brother but all veterans who served. It is important, she said, that their service is celebrated.

“This is an honor to keep their memories alive,” Gullett said, adding that she remembers her brother as a happy-go-lucky guy. “…He was a really good kid.”

This year’s event was even more special as it was the 50-year anniversary of the fall of Saigon, which marked the end of the Vietnam War.

To Elliott and Wennihan, it sure doesn’t feel like 50 years have passed.

“I remember things like it was just yesterday,” Elliott said. “Believe me.”

Wennihan added, “Fifty years ago I was in an Army hospital still. I had a spinal cord injury from a back surgery. I had a blood clot. They medevacked me from Germany to Denver. So I was sitting in the hospital bed watching the fall of Saigon in a room full of wounded Vietnam vets. That was quite the deal.”

Doug Bishop, chair of the Jasper County Veterans Alliance, spoke on behalf of the “In Memory” program, which honors the veterans who have died from exposure to Agent Orange, post-traumatic stress disorder and other illnesses as a result of their service. Jasper County took the lead in the program in 2019.

“All of you here as spouses and family members know 58,000 of our men and women died in Vietnam, but that war didn’t kill everybody by the end of May 1975,” Bishop said. “Coming up with PTSD, mental health issues, Agent Orange, all of the above. It took a lot more than 58,000 after that.”

The program was expanded statewide. When Jasper County first launched the program in 2019, it inducted 33 veterans. Bishop said this year alone 23 new inductees have been added, increasing the total number of Iowa Vietnam War veterans who died from duty-related illnesses to 180.

“At one time we were second only to Indiana per capita as to how many veterans we had inducted,” Bishop said. “I’m guessing if we were to check, damn, we might be first in the nation. So kudos to all of you who have done that. We’re going to keep that push going.”