Buttons honor three deployed servicemen

KEOSAUQUA ? Van Buren Community School District staff and students have asked community members to remember Van Buren graduates who are part of a current Iowa Army National Guard deployment to Afghanistan.

About 100 soldiers are mobilized from the 833rd Engineer Company, formerly known as Company B, 224th Engineer Battalion.

They include: Tyler Jones, a 2009 Van Buren graduate and the son of Greg and Penny Jones of Keosauqua and Pam Euans of Oelwein; Scott Lindley, a 2011 Van Buren graduate, and the son of Mark and Susan Lindley; and Corey Cook, a 2004 Van Buren graduate and the son of Tammy Tuttle and the late Steven Cook. This is Cook?s second deployment, the first was to Iraq in 2004 just months after his high school graduation.

Buttons with pictures of the three men are available for a freewill donation at Circle B in Keosauqua. Any funds raised will be used to pay for the buttons.

?It?s a way of connecting the school with the community,? said Audrey Ekle, one of the staff members involved in the project. ?We need to remember that deployment of soldiers is a stressful time for them and their families.?

Several staff members and students are part of the project.

A military benefit auction is set for 10 a.m. June 22 at the Ottumwa National Guard Armory. Proceeds will go toward care packages for area soldiers deployed overseas.

Items, new and used, are now being accepted for the auction.

For information call 641-895-4058, 641-895-3191, 919-6686 or 919-6032.

Auction servies are being donated by Stuart Gilbert.