Butler County, state, partner to serve veterans with gift

The Iowa Veterans Commission and Butler County Veterans Affairs Commission have joined forces to honor local Vietnam and Kuwait veterans for their service overseas with a physical tribute.
     Copies of “A Time to Honor: Stories of Service, Duty and Sacrifice” are freely available to Vietnam veterans at the Butler County Courthouse. “The Liberation of Kuwait: 25th Anniversary Commemorative Book” is also available for Desert Storm veterans.
     When many Vietnam veterans returned to American soil close to 50 years ago, they were met with disrespect, said Dan Gannon, chair of the Iowa Veterans Commission. Today’s America is very different, he added, and citizens now hold the ability to separate warriors from the war. What started as a project to represent that sentiment in several states — put together by Remember My Service (RMS), a company that makes books to commemorate the legacy of service members —has grown into a national effort to recognize Vietnam veterans with a customized commemorative book. The project reached Iowa over this summer.
     “We can’t ever forget the sacrifices that our veterans made for our freedoms,” Gannon said of the project’s importance. “And if we quit doing activities like this, if we stop talking about it, then it will be forgotten. We’re continually telling the story of the sacrifices that they made.”
    

Read more in the November 23rd edition of the STAR or Tribune/Journal.