T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Members of the Larry Nehring Detachment #103 of the Marine Corps League saved the first piece of birthday cake for Donald Nelson, right, the oldest Marine in attendance during Friday morning’s Veterans Day event and Marine Corps birthday celebration at Malloy LRC on the IVH campus.

Because of the calendar this year and Veterans Day actually falling on a Saturday, Friday’s program at the Malloy Leisure Resource Center (LRC) on the campus of the Iowa Veterans Home was something of a double celebration honoring all who have served but also making special mention of the 248th anniversary of the creation of the esteemed amphibious branch.

Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Commandant Todd Jacobus opened the event with some kind words for the residents, staff and community members in attendance before the Marshalltown Combined Honor Guard posted the colors and the Marshalltown Men’s Chorus sang “The Star Spangled Banner.”

“It is truly a privilege that we get to deliver on a promise that was made by the American people when each of these veterans separated themselves from this 325 million person formation that we know as the United States of America by saying ‘I’m willing to serve,'” Jacobus said. “That promise by the American people was that we will be here for you when and if you need it, and we here at the Iowa Veterans Home, I’m gonna say probably moreso than any other part of our federal, state or local government, get the opportunity to deliver on that promise each and every day. And it is an awesome mission.”

After the Pledge of Allegiance and an invocation from IVH Chaplain Angela Doty, Jacobus introduced the keynote speaker, Rick Frederiksen. Frederiksen, a Des Moines native who enlisted in the Marine Corps upon graduating from North High School in 1967, embarked on a unique journey as he trained as a broadcast specialist and served as a newscaster and war news editor for the American Forces Vietnam Network — which is probably best known as the basis for the hit 1987 film “Good Morning Vietnam” starring Robin Williams.

T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Rick Fredericksen, the keynote speaker at Friday’s IVH Veterans Day event and a Marine Corps veteran, holds up a patriotic painting presented to him by resident George Trent.

Once he returned to Iowa in 1970, Fredericksen started a career in journalism at KRNT radio and TV in Des Moines, which later became KCCI, and it eventually took him back to Asia, where he worked for CBS News based in Thailand. After returning to Iowa again in 1995, he got involved with Iowa State University’s radio stations and Iowa Public Radio. He has written four books, including his most recent one about his time with the American Forces Vietnam Network.

Fredericksen joked that although his branch, the Marine Corps, was turning 248, it didn’t look its age, and that he appreciated Congress for keeping the media from the bottom of most lists of levels of public trust in various institutions.

Conversely, he was glad that veterans and law enforcement typically poll much higher on those same lists, and he was quick to recognize spouses and family members of those who serve as people who should also be counted as veterans.

As someone who spent time in Vietnam as part of his service (and escaped a restaurant in Saigon that came under mortar attack), Fredericksen also shouted out those who were enlisted during those years but either stayed stateside or worked at bases in nearby places like Guam and Thailand, or in hospitals in Germany as integral to the larger effort.

“I don’t make any distinction. We’re all veterans,” he said.

He also discussed one of the darker sides of serving in Vietnam, the exposure to Agent Orange and his recent Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis, but Fredericksen was honored to stand among fellow veterans and share a few of his reflections.

In closing, he recalled the first time he heard someone say “Thank you for your service” to him, and he responded “Thank you for your support.” Two weeks ago, he was wearing his Vietnam veteran hat when a woman thanked him for his service at Costco in West Des Moines. As it turned out, it was Gov. Kim Reynolds.

“I think the country has changed. It’s coming from the heart. I like to hear it,” he said. “We can’t defend the country and go to war without a team effort.”

An IVH resident, George Trent, presented Fredericksen with a special patriotic painting, and the Marshalltown Men’s Chorus then sang Lee Greenwood’s patriotic hit “God Bless the U.S.A.” Walmart and the Grand Masonic Lodge of Iowa both presented donation checks to IVH, and Doty then gave the postlude along with the Honor Guard performing a gun salute.

But the fun wasn’t over yet as Ryan Lincoln, the commandant of the Larry Nehring Detachment of the Marine Corps League, led a brief cake cutting ceremony for the Marine Corps birthday and presented the first piece to Donald Nelson, the oldest Marine attending the event.

——

Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.