Benefits of rural life, military service touted

Butler County Veterans Affairs Director Tom Heckman has been to all seven continents and was glad to return to Iowa.
“Right now, you guys are the only school in Butler County that is not consolidated with any other school,” Heckman said. “You should be proud of that.”
“You have something a lot of city kids don’t have,” Heckman said, noting the rural experience of working with heavy machinery and hunting, skills that can transfer to military service.
Heckman drove trucks in the military and worked on tanks and trucks, skills he learned on the farm, he said. “Go see the world,” he told students. “Don’t forget where you came from.”
RIDES TO V.A.: Heckman recognized attendee Bob Kelm of Clarksville as one of his six volunteer drivers, who take veterans to VA medical appointments.
Read the full article in the November 17 edition of the Star.