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Former service members swap stories at Veterans Day program
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
WASHINGTON — A Veterans Day program at Blair House in Washington diverged from the scheduled routine Monday morning. With the keynote speaker arriving late, attendees filled time first by introducing themselves, then by swapping stories, then discussing weapons terminology and eventually talking politics.
The sense of camaraderie mirrored insight from the only formal speech given at the event, by retired Sgt. Maj. Bruce Timmins who is the commander of Washington’s American Legion group, Leon Beatty Post 29.
Timmins recalled a night when he got a text from a soldier in Tennessee who had once served under him, but later faced thoughts of suicide. While the sergeant major stayed on the phone with the fellow veteran for much of the night, he got in touch with others in the area hundreds of miles away to send him support.
By the next morning, Timmins said the faraway veteran’s local VFW group, American Legion post and combat veteran motorcycle association all had members at his front door. Today, he said the man lives in a new home, is checked into rehabilitation and has a new job.
“We’re getting his life back on track and back in order, he can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel now,” Timmins said. “This is why veterans’ organizations like this one and others are so important. We are vets helping vets … and we need to be prepared to help those individuals in any way we can.”
As the small group of veterans went around the room introducing themselves following Timmins’ speech, a handful said it was an honor to serve their country, as well as their more local community as members through the legion.
They also joked about the semantics of “guns” vs. “weapons,” which are technically distinct terms that some military branches take more care to differentiate than others.
When keynote speaker and Iowa House Rep. Heather Hora arrived, she briefly introduced herself as a member of the lawmaking body’s veterans affairs commission, then opened the floor to questions from the audience, rather than giving a structured speech.
Attendees touched on concerns about four-day school weeks and Department of Education funding, but asked questions largely about the Veteran Affairs hospital system.
“There’s still veterans that really get the runaround dealing with V.A. hospitals,” said Veteran Dale Torpey. “The Iowa City V.A. hospital is one of the bright lights of the system, however one of our legion members has really been getting the runaround and it’s quite a tale.”
Hora, for her part, said she was grateful for the local post members’ contributions to the armed forces.
“I just want to thank you all for your service,” she said. “We’ve got two supermajorities and the governorship, so If there’s ever going to be anything that we can get done, it’s going to be now, and we are all appreciative of what our veterans do so I could see some really good legislation coming down.”
Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com
