Until they all come home: remembering the troops in Mt. Pleasant

MT. PLEASANT — Tie a ribbon.

That’s the simple request coming from the Mt. Pleasant VFW as local soldiers ship out overseas. Yellow ribbons — wrapped around trees, flagpoles, and porch posts — are beginning to appear in quiet corners of town. A few have popped up along residential streets. One flutters outside a front yard fence; another was spotted tied around a porch post near the square.

A simple yellow ribbon tied around a tree or a porch post may seem small, but VFW Post Commander Robin Daniel hopes they become a bighearted symbol of solidarity, sacrifice and community. And as word of the VFW request spreads, Daniel looks forward to seeing the whole town and surrounding community covered in yellow.

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“This has been a long tradition for when military service members are deployed overseas,” said Robin Daniel, commander of the Mt. Pleasant VFW. “We’re asking everyone to put a yellow ribbon around a tree, a flagpole, a porch post — whatever you’ve got. Keep it up until they all come home.”

The yellow ribbon campaign is part of a broader wave of patriotism that’s washing over the town, a continuation of the heartfelt send-off Mt. Pleasant gave to its soldiers this spring. On deployment day, neighbors gathered along the sidewalks, waving American flags and handmade signs. People stood shoulder to shoulder, stretching from Mt. Pleasant to the edge of Henry County. As the convoy rolled past, cheers echoed. It was a show of unity that didn’t end at the city limits — and now, with the yellow ribbons, it hasn’t ended at all.

The tradition of the yellow ribbon has deep roots in American culture. It dates back to at least the Civil War, when it was said that women would wear yellow ribbons to symbolize waiting for a loved one to return.

The symbol resurfaced during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, when Americans tied yellow ribbons around trees and telephone poles in support of the hostages. It became an iconic gesture of patriotism and support during the Gulf War, when yellow ribbons blanketed communities in tribute to deployed troops.

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In Mt. Pleasant, it’s now being brought back — not just as a gesture of hope, but as a promise.

“I think there’s a good opportunity for the community … when they come home, it would be great to have yellow ribbons everywhere,” Daniel said. “That way when they came home, [they could say] ‘Hey, you know what? They didn’t forget about us.’”

Some, like Dan and Angie Walterbach, took that message to heart. Her nephew is among the deployed, and now her house on South Spruce Avenue is wrapped in ribbons and flying a blue star banner — signifying a family member in active service.

“She even asked me if it was OK to do that, even though it wasn’t her son,” Daniel recalled. “I told her, absolutely. Anybody can put up a yellow ribbon.”

Other homes across town are following suit. Ribbons have slowly begun to appear on porches, lampposts, fence posts, and trees throughout town, Daniel said.

But the ribbons are just the beginning.

Daniel and other veterans, along with community members, are launching a broader initiative called Operation Front Porch, aimed at supporting the families left behind. While the soldiers serve abroad, their families here face a different kind of challenge — keeping life going in their absence.

“What can we do to support these families?” Daniel recalled being asked. “I’ve always been on the other side of it, being the one deployed. I didn’t know. But I knew we had to figure it out.”

With the help of local Guard leadership and neighbors who have lived through deployments themselves, Daniel and others hope to build a volunteer network and find ways for the Mt. Pleasant Community to show their support in addition to the yellow ribbons.

“If we get the green light, we’re going to open up the Veterans Hall to community members who want to help,” Daniel said. “We’ll collect names, phone numbers and what people are able to offer. And we’ll match them to the families who need it.”

This group, which met at Daniel’s house to begin planning this week, is also thinking about those still overseas. Many soldiers receive care packages from loved ones — but not all.

“There are soldiers who won’t get those packages,” Daniel said. “We want to raise money to send things to them too, just so they know: we haven’t forgotten.”

That sentiment — of remembrance and connection — is what drives the effort. When Daniel talks about it, it’s clear this is personal. He’s deployed three times himself.

“I still remember turning around and walking away from my family,” he said. “It’s a very lonely feeling. But I always told myself, I’m walking away not because I don’t love them, but because of the freedoms we have. And it takes sacrifice to maintain those freedoms.”

He says he’s not as tough as he used to be — he tears up more easily now, especially when he sees a yellow ribbon tied around someone’s front yard tree. But he’s OK with that.

“I’m not afraid to show my emotion for these people,” he said. “I’ve walked that path. A couple times, I was just lucky to come home.”

He hopes this effort will not only support families now but inspire the next generation to understand the meaning behind the sacrifice.

“We have an obligation, in my opinion, to help educate our youth about patriotism,” Daniel said. “We’re not a perfect nation. We never have been. But for those of us who’ve been outside of the United States, we know — this place, while far from perfect, still is the best place I’ve ever experienced.”

Daniel’s own father, a Vietnam veteran, has shared how meaningful it is to see this kind of visible support.

“He tells me all the time, he says, ‘Man, I’m so proud of you. If we could have had somebody like you do this during Vietnam, maybe it would have been different,’” Daniel recalled. “I said, ‘Dad, I’m only one person in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa … but I think our country is continuing to heal from that, and I hope we never have to experience that again.’”

From the heartfelt send-off in the spring, to the yellow ribbons now around town, to Daniel’s own grandchildren, he sees that lesson already being passed on to the next generation.

Daniel tells the story of his young granddaughter, who recently told her class her favorite colors were red, white and blue.

“My daughter lives right next to a baseball, softball complex in their hometown in Illinois, and she sends a video of both of her kids,” Daniel shared. “They’re outside playing, and all of a sudden they play the national anthem, and my two grandkids — they stop and they face the flag. And I obviously shed a few tears looking at my phone.”

For now, Mt. Pleasant continues to tie yellow ribbons and plan for what’s next. Operation Front Porch is moving forward, and Daniel promises more updates soon. The goal is clear: to remind the troops, and their families, that they’re not alone.

“Tie that ribbon,” he said. “Put it on your porch, your tree, your fence post. It tells our troops and their families: We’re here. We care. And we’ll be here until you come home.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com