Rural reporting
As a community regional news editor for Mid-America Publishing, I wrote for the Hampton Chronicle, Sheffield Press and Pioneer Enterprise, covering 14 towns from 50 to 5,000 people. Over the course of my summer internship, I've written more than 60 stories and have made photos for most of them. I investigated city council decisions, researched local history and rushed to breaking news scenes. I temporarily damaged my hearing at my first-ever tractor pull. In the process, I gained a new perspective of rural Iowa. I learned a lot. Here's a peek.
Jail for Sale
135-year-old jail holds rich local history
The last “mom and pop jail” to close in Iowa is open to new residents.
Priced at $49,000, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail east of the courthouse on Highway 3 has been on the market since November 2014. The home and jail combination features a kitchen, living room, two bathrooms, three bedrooms and a cement and steel cellblock. It was built in 1880 in late Victorian and Italianate style and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 as an example of a common type of historic local jail.
Kathy Stanbrough, Abbott Realty agent for the property, pored over newspaper clippings and historical documents in a folder labeled “jail” at the Franklin County Historical Museum to learn about it.
Her favorite was a June 1916 Sheffield Press article about Glen Hawkins, an inmate who removed brick and cut through a steel ceiling while the sheriff was away. Another inmate yelled out the window to try to get someone to stop the escapee. Hawkins got away, according to the article.
That was one of many attempted and successful escapes.
• EVASIVE ESCAPES
During a rainstorm in the 1980s, two inmates rammed a bench through a window, got out and headed east. The jailer was away, so nobody heard anything.
Jailer Darwin “Diz” Wikert, having just gotten back into town, felt uneasy so he checked on the inmates, only to find their empty cells.
The hunt began.
Torrential downpour continued as Wikert and his team searched. It turned out to their advantage when the highway flooded over, blocking an exit route. Officials found the fugitives hiding in a tree near Hansell.
“If they had tried to walk through that water, they’d have been swept away and drowned,” Wikert said.
They all went back to the jail, where the battering ram benches would soon be welded onto the bars. One of them had boasted that there was no prison he couldn’t escape from.
• COEXISTING WITH CRIMINALS
Wikert was the Chief Deputy for 30 years. He moved into the jail with his family on an eventful New Year’s Eve of 1973, right after a drug bust in Chapin resulted in locking up around 10 people.
“That’s how we got acclimated to the jail,” he said.
His wife Janet made the new inmates toast, bacon and scrambled eggs in the morning.
“It was quite a deal,” he said.
Wikert remembers living with his family in the high-ceilinged two-story home, eating his wife’s homecooked meals and sharing them with the prisoners who also lived there.
“They really liked my wife’s spaghetti,” he said.
One defense lawyer petitioned for new clothes for two inmates because they’d outgrown their uniforms during their stay, Wikert said.
He blamed the spaghetti.
Though he dealt with escape attempts and occasional difficult inmates, he said living there for 18 years was “just a pleasure.”
The locals were his favorite inmates. He would let them out to wash and wax the sheriff and police cars and reward them with a six-pack of pop.
“I could always get along with the local guys,” he said. “They’d always want to play a game or two of cribbage, and I’d bring popcorn back for them.”
When Interstate 35 was constructed, it brought “the real hardened ones” from out of town, including car thieves from Minneapolis, who Wikert said always ran out of gas in Franklin County.
“When the interstate came through, all the pukes in the world came,” he said. But the Wikerts enjoyed making a home of the Franklin County Jail. They raised their kids there and developed trusting, mutually respectful relationships with inmates. The family missed it once they moved out in 1988 at the jail’s closing.
Current Franklin County Sherriff Larry Richtsmeier was a deputy when it closed. He said Wikert earned his respect by treating inmates like people, not prisoners, even though the jail sometimes held murderers, kidnappers and rapists.
“Ninety-nine percent of the guys that were there were really good guys,” Wikert said.
• CLOSING TIME
A November 1973 article reported the state jail inspector calling this jail “one of the worst
in the state.”
It did not meet certain standards and remodeling would have been difficult due to the materials used. The jail was experiencing an increase of inmates at the time.
Duane Payne, sheriff from 1972 to 2001, served on the board of directors while the state pushed for stricter jail standards.
“The standards came out and it got so expensive, we just couldn’t keep up,” he said. “We couldn’t keep our noses above water.”
The board decided to contract with other counties to house Franklin County prisoners. Payne and Richtsmeier said the building always felt old, but got a lot of improvements.
“Back in those days, you did the best with what you had,” Payne said. “Now there’s so many standards you have to keep up with.”
Wikert said that got to be too much at the end.
Since closing in 1988, the cells were used for locking away evidence and records. Franklin County transferred ownership to Hampton’s Main Street in 2004. Private citizens bought it in 2006.
There was talk of it being a Bob Artley cartoon museum honoring the Hampton artist, a teen haven for St. Paul Lutheran Church or a family home, according to previous Hampton Chronicle articles.
A 1999 editorial suggested it be used as a sheriff and peace officer’s hall of fame.
Stanbrough said most of her showings have
been as a single family dwelling. It is currently zoned as downtown commercial property, which could be used for retail, restaurant, office space or multi-family living. A zoning variance would be required to make it a single family residence.
Current owners Ryan and Kelsey Card have redone the windows, painted the exterior and removed old electrical, boiler and plumbing. They installed ductwork and will install a new furnace.
“I hope they don’t tear it down,” Payne said. “It’s got a lot of history."
Hampton Chronicle – July 8, 2015
Wind wreaks havoc on Hansell farm
Sharon Burman got a call from the Franklin County Sherriff’s Office while at work Monday morning. Wind had badly damaged her home and property north of Hansell.
“All they told me was there was a two-by-four sticking out of the roof,” she said.
Her heart raced as she drove home to survey the damage, imagining the worst.
She pulled up to her sunny yellow house and found an evergreen tree in front had snapped and fallen onto power lines. Two dogs followed as she and her husband Tom Burman, who had arrived at the scene moments earlier, took in the state of their home and land.
Pieces of the machine shed had flown across the road and littered a neighboring field. The shed was reduced to pieces of steel and lumber lying on top of farm equipment. Another shed’s south wall was ripped off. Tin hung from tree branches. A two-by-four that was ripped from the machine shed impaled the roof, which had been re-shingled last fall. The garden was destroyed and the fruit and pine trees went down.
“We’ve spent a lot of years trying to make it like a vacation home,” she said. “Because you can never leave a farm.”
The Burmans rent out the field south of their home. They also care for four beehives and 20 chickens. Winds overturned a beehive and downed a chicken fence. Bees huddled around their broken hive, which Tom will have to wear a bee suit to fix.
“[The bees] are pretty upset,” Sharon said.
"Understandably."
The residence has known its share of damage since the Burman family came into ownership in the 1950s. An original house there b u r n t d o w n . Winds blew the barn’s roof off 20 years ago. Sharon said its placement at the top of a hill makes the
property especially susceptible to wind.
“I’m just glad the house is still standing,” she said.
• OTHER DAMAGE IN THE AREA
Franklin County Sheriff Larry Richtsmeier and Emergency Management Coordinator Thomas Craighton did not suspect a tornado touched down in the area.
“When you have a tornado, usually the trees are all twisted,” said Richtsmeier. “These trees were just snapped in the same direction.”
Strong winds blew a grain bin into a field west of Highway 65 near six or seven downed power lines. Authorities were unsure where the bin came from.
State trooper Ryan Bergmann guarded the highway closing between Chapin and Sheffield, which required travelers to extend their route to a detour through Chapin. Power went out in Sheffield around 7:30 a.m.
“It has been crazy,” Bergmann said.
Sheffield Press – June 25, 2015
Welcome Home
Veterans recieve thanks 40 years after Vietnam War
Men in boots and jungle fatigues, the olive green uniforms soldiers wore in Vietnam, gathered in Clear Lake Saturday. Forty years after the end of the Vietnam War, North Iowa veterans would get the welcome they did not when they first came home from this controversial war.
On his 1968 flight back from a year-long tour of duty in Vietnam, 25-year-old Larry Olk watched as flight attendants offered everyone on the plane drinks – except those in uniform. He watched again as they gave pillows and blankets to everyone on the plane – except those in uniform.
The soldiers exchanged stunned glances and realized the treatment they would receive when the plane landed. As was the custom, Olk threw away his uniform.
There were no parades. Flags didn’t wave at welcome-home rallies. Vietnam veterans walked quietly back into civilian life, scorned by their country. Some were spat on and many were called names.
“We didn’t say ‘we don’t like the politics, we’re not going to go’” said Larry Paul, Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Chapter 790 president. “We went.”
Olk, a Sheffield resident and vice president of that VVA chapter, said veterans kept their service secret and the public didn’t know how bad it was.
“When you went and when you came back had a huge impact on what you saw,” Olk said.
How the public received them also varied with they returned.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Clear Lake Chapter hosted the Vietnam Veterans Appreciation Day at City Park in Clear Lake. Veterans, families and the public enjoyed a free concert, speakers, a grill out and the company of other veterans.
“There’s hardly a family in America that hasn’t been touched by the Vietnam War,” Paul said. “All of those people remember how horrible it was when they got back.”
• A JUNGLE WAR
The nature of war had changed and front lines were everywhere. More than 58,000 Americans were killed and 851 of them were from Iowa, according to the National Archives.
Many more were harmed by the lasting effects of the herbicide “Agent Orange,” which the VA has recognized 12 conditions, 39 cancers and 19 birth defects that have been linked to its exposure, according to a VVA guide.
“If you weren’t there, there is no possible way you could understand,” Olk said.
It has been said that Vietnam was the first conflict in which the U.S. public turned against the warrior instead of the war. Paul said it was divisive; splitting Americans against themselves much like the Civil War did. The “hawk or dove” divide, between those for and against the war, lasted until the country united in response to Desert Storm, he said.
Veterans of many different eras came to celebrate this event.
“Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another,” is the VVA’s founding principle.
“Everybody thinks it’s about time we do this type of thing,” Paul said.
• BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Larry Paul doesn’t pay for his own beer very often these days. Especially when he is in the
fatigues that North Wood Casino bought the VVA for parades and demonstrations a few years back.
“People treat you special when you wear this uniform,” he said. “It’s a wonderful feeling.”
The public’s acceptance of Vietnam veterans has flipped entirely, Paul said. They now receive support that they did not when they came home.
“It’s that huge ‘thank you,’ ” he said. “It’s a warm feeling that people have fi nally accepted you as a valuable part of the war effort.”
VVA Chapter 790, the Jerry Parmley North Star Chapter, has nearly 200 members in North Iowa, who have assisted with homeless veterans projects, outreach and holiday season activities. Members grilled burgers and hot dogs outside of the Clear Lake VFW post, while Rich Mock and the Mockingbirds played 60's and 70's music.
Leon Christianson of Lake Mills spoke on stage at the event’s opening. He often drives a two and a half ton troop transport truck full of proud Vietnam veterans through parades and events. Many cities request this appearance at their celebrations.
“You Vietnam vets are my heroes,” he said. Parade goers never boo. They only cheer.
Pioneer Enterprise – June 25, 2015
Sheffield Safari
City's stuffed black rhino and leopard mounts may move to a new habitat, city council discussed
Sipping his beer in a Sheffield bar, a man felt watched.
A taxidermy leopard’s eyes peered right at him, so he asked the owner to angle it away.
“It’s creeping me out just staring at me like that,” Gene Whitmore remembers the patron saying.
So he moved it. Whitmore owns the old Bottom Lock Bar and Grill, where the leopard and a black rhino head were displayed since before he owned it, and have stayed after the business closed its doors at 112 Gilman in 2013.
The animals were part of a 144-piece collection donated to the city in 1986 by Onabelle Storck after her husband, Georgearl Storck, died in 1984. A relative of his is now asking the city council for permission to have them in her home.
These and hundreds of other animals were Storck’s trophies. Born in 1913, the Iowa man developed an exotic big-game hunting hobby after finding success in the automobile, television, real estate and bowling alley businesses.
Storck’s hunting and fishing trips brought him to Canada’s lakes, Africa’s plains, Mexico’s jungle mountains, and the “peaceful, Pacific blue” of the ocean, as he described it in a 1972 Sheffield Press article. He also went to Alaska, Asia, India and other places, bringing home enough game to have to build an addition on his house at 603 Sherman.
Sheffield’s “self-made man,” as Chapin resident Kay Rother called him, hunted big game, “when it was politically correct.” Rother said Storck is her half-uncle.
The old city hall on Gilman housed 144 animals in a climate-controlled display room until it shut down in 2001. It was a popular attraction, said resident Elden Grarup.
“They were very high quality mounts,” said Dennis Carlson, Franklin County Conservation director at the time. “The kind you’d see in the Museum of Natural History.”
Lions, water buffalos, seal hides, a zebra, hippo, kangaroo and shark were a few things in the large collection.
“There were some kind of goofy things that were politically correct at the time, in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” Rother said.
Those included some of the more functional items; giraffe leg lamps, a zebra pillow, hippo hoof ashtrays, elephant footstools, a lechewe hoof decanter, an elephant trunk lamp and grizzly bear rugs.
• CONTROVERSIAL CALL
The decision to get rid of the animals caused a stir in Sheffield, as some residents disagreed with selling a donation.
It came three years after Onabelle’s death, when the council added a vote to their 2001 mayor and council election ballots to gauge the public’s opinion of closing the museum.
The council later agreed to remove that vote from the ballot amid discussion whether putting it on in the first place was legal. The council then decided to sell the collection, which was donated with a $25,000 fund for perpetual care.
The stuffed zoo sold for $81,024 at the Lolli Livestock Market in September 2001, with the city bringing in $71,555.80 of it after expenses, according to a 2001 Globe Gazette article.
The Franklin County Conservation office has a document from the market’s Jim Lolli, who estimated the price of each piece. Three ivory tusks were projected to bring in up to $5,000 each. A giraffe was assessed at $2,000. Next to the black rhino and leopard, in all caps, are the words “can not sell.”
The endangered animals couldn’t be sold, so the city is stuck with them, said mayor Nick Wilson.
“Sometimes the needs change,” Carlson said. “They used those resources for other things.”
The council made a motion to put the
proceeds towards projects in Sheffield like playgrounds and beautification, but years later were told that they should have made a resolution to do so, a council member from that period said, and the money was spent from the general fund.
Some of the collection’s North American birds that pass through Iowa were donated to Franklin County Conservation for display in Mayne’s Grove Lodge and for educational use.
• THEN THERE WERE TWO
The two protected species that could not be sold ended up on display at Marty’s Tavern. They stayed there when it transferred ownership and became Bottom Lock Bar and Grill.
The mounts were conversation starters, Whitmore said, and kids loved them. He even got asked if they were for sale a few times.
“I wouldn’t have given them up even if I could,” he said.
He used to clean the animals, but now that his restaurant is closed, nobody keeps up. They sit, collecting dust, in a dark room that’s mostly barren other than a few empty booths and beer cans. There is no power or climate control in the building.
The lack of air conditioning could damage the animals, said Greg Cuvelier, owner of Greg’s Taxidermy in Aplington. He said mounts should be kept between 72 and 79 degrees. Otherwise, the skin can dry out and crack, especially around the eyes and nose. Kept at room temperature, he said some mounts can last indefinitely.
“If you keep them clean, they’ll last longer,” he said. “I’ve got pieces in here that I taxedermied in 1992 that look as good as they did then.”
Attempts at providing maintenance or putting the remaining two back on public display have not been discussed by the council, Wilson said.
A previous deal to display them at Cabela’s outdoor store in Minnesota fell through, he said.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of businesses that want them,” he said. Whitmore hopes they could be given back to a family member.
• WHERE TO NEXT?
The remaining mounts have gained Rother’s sympathy.
“I felt bad for the animals,” she said. “So I asked Mr. Wilson if I could take care of them.”
She has researched her hoped-for new housemates, and said that pests could be growing in their stuffing, but she would have them cleaned
“I felt they deserve a better place than just rotting in Marty’s Tavern,” she said.
Wilson said city property must be advertised and sold at fair market value and everyone must be given the chance to buy it. If they went to a home, they would remain city property, he said, and the caretaker could not sell them.
The council discussed their options at the July 13 city council meeting and moved to speak with the city attorney before taking further action.
“If we can get rid of them, I’d love to,” said council member JC McCaslin.
Sheffield Press – July 30, 2015
This piece started with me wondering 'why are they talking about a rhino at a city council meeting?' and ended with microfilm, lots of calls and a trip to a closed-down, boarded-up, pitch black bar to find the elusive rhino and leopard mounts.
Carson shares plans to curb government control
During a visit to the Franklin County Fair last Thursday, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson told a crowd his plans to limit the federal government’s reach.
Touting his campaign slogan, “Heal, Inspire, Revive,” the author and retired pediatric neurosurgeon said the country is “forsaking the values that made America great” for the sake of political correctness, and that politicians have overstepped their intended power.
“I’m not a politician,” he said. “Never intended to be one.”
If elected, Carson said he would wane government control by letting experts in their fields handle health care, agriculture and other areas. He would stop the Department of Education’s control and do away with the Common Core in favor of a localized education system, he says on his website.
“[If] we stop doing the asinine things and let the farmers and the whole free market just operate on their productivity, on their ingenuity, they’ll do just fine,” he said.
Carson also said he would secure all borders with technology, not a fence, and prevent Islamic extremists who he said are already in the country from growing in numbers.
He would also provide a “guest worker mechanism” for immigrants, who would pay taxes, could not vote and would not be considered citizens. This system pays homage to immigrants who do it “the right way,” he said.
He also suggested developing other “friendly” countries’ infrastructures to create jobs abroad.
The Seventh-day Adventist spoke about keeping faith in society, and is quoted on his website saying his career in pediatric neurosurgery made him “unabashedly and entirely pro-life.”
He criticized Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, the Iran Nuclear Deal, and the June Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage in all states, calling the court “way out in left field.” “They don’t know that the Court isn’t supposed to make laws,” he said. “Nine justices deciding how we live is an oligarchy.”
He proposed a proportional tax system based on the Biblical system of tithing. He shared his perspective of growing up in poverty and said this plan would be fair for all.
“A lot of desperately poor people have pride,” he said. “They want to pay their way.”
The crowd broke into cheers when he talked
about the “can-do” attitude in America, as opposed to the “what can you do for me” attitude he talked about in the context of welfare.
He urged the crowd to get educated and involved in the political process.
“I’m not talking about Republicans or Democrats,” he said. “I’m talking about people with common sense who love America.”
Iowa is the place to do that, said Shawn Dietz, chairman of the Franklin County Republican Central Committee
“People realize we have a wide canvas of Republicans,” Dietz said. “[They] want to experience it for themselves, and that’s what Iowa is all about – telling me face to face how you’ll run the country.”
Dietz said Carson’s humble roots help him relate to voters.
“If you can connect with voters in Franklin
County, it translates across the state of Iowa, and really, the country,” he said.
Carson’s second quarter campaign finance filings suggest he’s connecting with individuals.
Of his 232,670 total donations, 98 percent were for amounts less than $200, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Larger contributions came from evangelical Christians, health care providers and the founders of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. He said his connection to individuals comes from his impoverished upbringing and speaking without political “mumbo-jumbo.”
“I’m from amongst the grassroots,” he said. “I’m not from amongst the political class. Hopefully people will come to realize that is us. The grassroots is what this country is about.”
With his lack of a political background, he said he brings his whole career of solving “extremely complex problems” to the crowded Republican race.
“And that’s what we have right now in this country,” he said, “extremely complex problems.”
Hampton Chronicle – July 22, 2015
Poultry show entrants bounce back from bird flu blues
A poultry judge stood by a line of birdless cages Thursday at the Franklin County Fair, deliberating an unconventional poultry show.
In May, when the bird flu outbreak caused the Iowa Department of Agriculture to prohibit live birds from this year’s exhibits, ISU extension and 4-H organizers sought an alternative.
The show became what some entrants likened to a science fair. Informational boards were duct taped to fronts of cages that held framed photos of chickens and binders of poultry pictures. Research topics included chicken parts, breeds, gestation cycles and eggs.
“These are the kids that really believe in their birds,” said Stephanie Orth, a 4-H poultry judge through ISU Extension. “That’s what made it so hard to judge. They’re all so smart.”
Orth perused the exhibits and based her decisions on participants’ knowledge of and plans for their birds.
The poultry ban was disappointing for some, including 12-year-old Franklin County Tri-L 4-H Club member Mikayla Fjeld, who got the news when she checked her email on a school computer.
“I was like ‘Ugh, I wanted to show them,’” Fjeld said. “Then later we found out about this alternative.” She said she was happy to be able to show her work at the fair. Fjeld and others worked with the initial setback.
Her brother, Jacob, said this show let him learn more about his animals.
Entrants learned things they may not have from a regular poultry show – like that it’s very hard to keep chickens still to photograph them, said 13-year-old Ellie Meyer of the Tri-L 4-H Club.
Ellie and her 15-year-old sister, Katie, each bought four chickens in February and looked forward to showing them.
“When we bought our birds, we didn’t know bird flu was a thing,” Katie said. “We were excited. It’s always fun to hear little chicks.”
Their preparation was different than they expected it to be. Instead of washing their birds, they photographed them. Katie researched the disease and put together a board about bird flu for a separate 4-H project.
Organizers hoped this design would make participants experts on their birds and prepare them for future shows. It is too soon to tell what will happen with bird flu, Orth said.
She gave advice at each exhibit. Much of it began with “If you bring them to the fair next year…”
Hampton Chronicle – July 22, 2015
I haven't been to many poultry shows, but I'm sure this one will remain my most interesting one for quite a while.
"The most unbelievable rush"
Veterans reunite for first ride in Huey since Vietnam since 46 years ago
More than four decades had passed since they left Vietnam, but when eight “Charlie Rangers” soldiers reunited for Operation Landing Zone (LZ) last weekend, they felt like kids again.
Their homes are scattered across the country, and one thing brought them together for this weekend; a chance to ride in a Huey helicopter one more time.
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois, known as a Huey, was a low-flying aircraft that became a symbol of the Vietnam War and holds memories for those who flew in them.
“They were like our horse of war,” said veteran Darren Gibson. “They took us into battle and took us out.”
The veterans that reunited at Dennis Rognes’ farm home in Lake Mills were from two platoons within the Charlie Company.
They were Rognes; John “Horn” Bentler, of Cedar Rapids; Bob “Rock” Hill, of Wisconsin; Darrel Gibson, of Kansas; Ed Kral, of Idaho; Ken Hester, of Washington; Thomas “Biz” Bissenden, of Michigan; and Tony Sparaco, of New York. Bill Clark, friend and “adopted member” of the group, served as a Marine in Vietnam and lives in Lake Mills.
The group started reuniting in 2006 via the 5th Battalion, 60th Infantry Association web site.
Reuniting was an awakening experience, Gibson said, and a chance to unearth decades of buried memories and feelings.
“It was the best therapy any of us had,” he said.
Though they talked about their adult lives, Hill said the reunions felt “like a bunch of 19-yearold kids together.” Their closeness, he said, came from having their lives depend on one another.
“When you see death up close, it creates a bond,” Hill said. “There isn’t a thing we wouldn’t do for each other.”
It wasn’t long after the fi rst reunion that the shared dream of riding in a Huey again came about. A year ago, Rognes learned that there would be rides at Operation LZ, and the group was on board right away.
“When you’re 18 to 21 years old, [riding in a Huey] is the most unbelievable rush,” Rognes said. “You’re just skimming over the trees with
your legs hanging out. You don’t really know if you’re coming back or not, but you don’t really think about it because you’re young and invincible.”
The group shared a nervous anticipation to relive those memories.
“There were times I felt very little fear,” Bissenden said. “And there were times I didn’t know if I’d make it. I didn’t always feel bulletproof, but sometimes I did.”
Friday afternoon, the veterans gathered around an iPad to video call platoon leader Bob Cooper, who lives in Oregon and doesn’t travel due to Agent Orange-related lung problems.
“I forgot what handsome warriors you all were,” Cooper said to his men.
They joked, laughed, cried and took photos before climbing into a black Hummer limo en route to their much-anticipated ride.
They were set to fly that night, but a low cloud ceiling prevented them from taking off and cancelled all rides for the following morning.
The Forest City Airport hosted Saturday’s afternoon air show as scheduled.
Tears welled in some men’s eyes as the blades of a Cobra attack helicopter began to spin for the show – an unforgettable sound many had not heard since being in combat.
After the air show, the group was set to finally make their delayed flight. Excitement buzzed as they stood in the roped-off loading area. In two lines, the veterans marched with Rognes’ daughter, Kjersti Rognes, to the chopper. They strapped in. Some held video cameras to document the moment.
The engine started and blades began to turn. They waited eagerly for liftoff, but instead the propeller slowed and the engine stopped.
The clouds were still too low.
Ten minutes passed, and the grass below the Huey danced in the propeller’s wind again.
A circle of grass billowed out, bending to thewind the way jungle vegetation did under Huey blades four decades ago.
This time, the helicopter lifted off. It hovered for a moment, and the group was airborne once again.
For about 10 minutes, the veterans saw their welcome home event together from the open doors of a Huey in the sky. Despite threatening weather, the mission was accomplished.
Upon landing, Sparaco, whose last Huey ride was March 11, 1969 during his medical evacuation after stepping on a grenade, walked purposefully to his wife, Marge, and kissed her.
“I just couldn’t believe I was up in the air again,” he said. “What a feeling. What a rush.”
• An event of appreciation
Operation LZ spanned Aug. 26-30 in Forest City, marking the 40th year since the last U.S.
troops left Vietnam. The goal was to honor Vietnam-era veterans and show appreciation many did not see after their service. Organizers estimated between 15,000 and 20,000 guests attended.
Franklin and Cerro Gordo were on the event’s nine-county core planning committee.
Vietnam veteran and Rockwell resident Mike Echelberger appreciated seeing some of the vehicles that he drove in Vietnam, as well as old friends.
“This was very well done,” he said. “It really hit the heart of a lot of people.”
Saturday morning, people gathered for a ceremony in front of the Vietnam Traveling
Memorial Wall, a replica of the wall in D.C., where the names of 58,272 killed or missing soldiers are engraved on black granite.
Guests heard the event’s speakers: Maj. Gen. James Jackson, director of U.S. Vietnam War Commemoration at the Pentagon; Marine Lt. Gen. Dennis Hejlik from Garner; Vietnam era veteran Gov. Terry Branstad; and Hanoi
Hilton prisoner of war, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Larry Spencer.
“You never received the welcome and homecoming you deserved,” Branstad said, urging listeners to “do everything we can to correct that mistake that so many citizens made.”
Wearing the old Army uniform his wife found boxed up in their garage, Branstad spoke of his efforts to serve veterans as governor. Those initiatives include the Home Base Iowa act, which he signed last May to draw veterans to Iowa with educational, employment and housing benefi ts.
“We’re trying to make Iowa the most veteran-friendly state in the United States of America,” he said.
Spencer spoke of sacrifice and the bond that exists between veterans. When service members raise their hand in oath, he said it is like signing a blank check to the country.
“You do your job as best you can, and you accept the things that come your way,” he said.
For Spencer, that included seven years in a Hanoi POW camp.
Nevertheless, he has good memories of his military time and the life lessons he learned there.
“If you wake up in the morning and there’s a knob on your side of the door, it’s going to be a pretty good day,” he said.
Tom Berry, Franklin County Veterans Affairs director, said the event offered a sense of closure.
Rognes agreed.
“I think I speak for every guy here,” he said. “I want to thank the organizers. We feel honored and very gratified. It’s just nice to be welcomed home.”
Pioneer Enterprise – Sept. 3, 2015
New welcome sign mysterious, but welcome
A handpainted wooden sign of unknown origin now greets people entering Swaledale from the east on B60.
In the midst of the town’s beautification efforts, an anonymous party took it into their own hands to give visitors and residents a fresh welcome. The words “Welcome to Swaledale” run across the sign’s black background, with Swaledale’s red block letters outlined in white. “We don’t really know who put it up,” Swaledale Mayor John Drury said. “It looks really nice.”
The mayor sees no problem with the free installment, and assumes someone will claim ownership eventually.
But for now, Swaledale residents will drive by and wonder.
The sign has a Burma-Shave logo in the lower right corner. It joins a series of nearby roadside signs that are based on the company’s famous 1920’s to 1960’s advertising campaign of small signs that, when driven past, sequentially formed rhyming slogans.
Pioneer Enterprise – July 30, 2015
The new installment sits next to a wooden sign that reads "Swaledale next seven exits." The town is home to 165 people. It has been a privilege to learn about life and people in the towns I cover and see their personalities surface in stories like this. I look forward to continuing to tell America's stories in one medium or another throughout my career.