American Legion Post 111 sends care packages to the unit of the Iowa National Guard soldiers killed in Syria

Volunteers dressed in heavy coats and boots carried in about two grocery carts worth of food into the American Legion Post 111, taking short steps to not slip on the wood floors of the vacant hall. Other volunteers were waiting in the bar past the west doors. They quickly put down their drinks and started unpacking totes.

Ed Spangenburg, a veteran and a member of the Jasper County Veterans Affairs Commission, joined his wife in making the boxes. It was only the second time he participated in a care package event at the Legion, which hosts a few every year. It reminded him of when he got his care package overseas in Iraq.

“It means a lot because not everybody gets as much mail as everybody else,” Spangenburg said. “Sometimes you get to open up a care package from someone who haven’t even met. I got to open one from someone I hadn’t met yet. And, you know, that ended up meaning a lot to me.”

Altogether the small group of volunteers sealed 22 care packages filled with snacks, footballs and other homey supplies. Spangenburg’s package was filled with all kinds of food from back home, which he shared with his fellow troops. The package was from someone he didn’t even know.

Later he learned the package came from a woman whose husband died during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The package helped fill bellies and lift spirits. It even came with a blanket. Spangenburg ended up giving the blanket to a scared and injured boy brought into the med clinic where he was stationed.

“Granted, the blanket was for me, but it also served a purpose to somebody else and made a connection,” Spangenburg said.

The volunteers who put together the 22 care packages hope their gifts will leave just as strong an impact, especially since they are going to the unit that recently had two brothers from the Iowa National Guard killed in action in Syria back in mid-December.

Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, Iowa, died on Dec. 13 of injuries sustained while engaged with hostile forces, the Department of the Army said. Their remains arrived in Iowa on Christmas Eve.

Torres-Tovar and Howard were both assigned to 1st Squadron 113th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division of the Iowa National Guard. The Iowa National Guard said on Dec. 23 that both soldiers were posthumously promoted to the rank of staff sergeant.

In a letter, the American Legion Post 111 extended its appreciation and support to the deployed soldiers. Each care package included a small American Flag that the Legion asked be flown at their duty station. Post Commander Jerry Nelson told Newton News that sending care packages is the least the organization can do.

“If we can put a smile on their face for one minute, fantastic,” Nelson said. “It just shows that folks from Iowa — especially us in Post 111 — we care and we want to put our best foot forward and say, ‘Look, we’re here to support you guys with anything you need.’”

Losing fellow service members is hard, Nelson added. He can think of a number of people he knew personally that never made it back home alive. That grief is also shared by those in a unit. So it is even more important, Nelson said, that people show their support for those serving in the military.

“We just want to show those guys that people care and those fellas weren’t lost in vain,” Nelson said. “What they do is important and we support them.”