When he was a freshman at Garwin High School, Orlyn Langenbau, who graduated in 1950 and went on to serve in the U.S. Air Force from 1952 to 1956, noticed that there wasn’t a flag pole at the Garwin Union Cemetery just northeast of town and decided he wanted to do something about it.

Over the years, it evolved into a larger plan for a memorial honoring all of the veterans buried there, and at long last, with members of his family by his side and GMG students and appreciative residents of the community on hand, the shrine Langenbau financed himself was formally dedicated on a chilly and windy Monday morning ahead of the main Veterans Day program in the GMG high school gym.

“It’s very humbling. I’m glad it’s done, and I’m proud to be able to have the names there,” Langenbau said.

Robert Kienzle, who led the ceremony cemetery, read the name of every veteran etched into the memorial and noted that the two stones still have plenty of space to add more. Before he introduced guest speaker Todd Eipperle during the ceremony at the high school, Kienzle provided a few more details on how the memorial came to be.

As Kienzle and members of the public look on beside him, Langenbau observes the new memorial during a brief ceremony at the cemetery on Monday morning.

In 1996, Langenbau’s wife Marveta passed away, and he used some memorial money to erect a flagpole with a bench in front of it. He also poured the foundation of what would eventually become the Veterans Memorial, but it would take almost another three decades to fully come to fruition.

“This vision was ongoing. He knew what he wanted, so as time went on a little farther, everything was set. The stones were set, and he got it done. They were just set a couple weeks ago,” Kienzle said. “All the names on there are all the veterans that I can verify out at the Garwin Cemetery.”

Orlyn Langenbau has since remarried, and he and his wife Doris reside at The Embers in Marshalltown. Kienzle described the monument as “absolutely fabulous” and hoped that those with loved ones who are veterans buried there would make the trip out to see it.

He also thanked the GMG community for their support, noting that Orlyn and Marveta drove school buses for the district for nearly 40 years. Orlyn also spent time working in local cemeteries, which also helped to spark his interest in the project.

After telling a story about a trip to the WWII Museum in New Orleans and pointing out that only about one percent of the U.S. population currently serves in the military, Kienzle noted that American troops are still actively working to assist the situations in places like Taiwan, Israel and Ukraine even if they aren’t directly involved in fighting at the moment.

Flanked by members of his family and Robert Kienzle (left), Orlyn Langenbau (wearing red shirt) gets a look at the new veterans memorial he paid for at the Garwin Union Cemetery on Monday morning.

“The U.S. military is tasked, basically, with protecting democracy around the world, not just here,” he said. “So you may look at this and go ‘Well, I don’t know about the military.’ Well I can attest to this. There are some golden opportunities, and the rest of us thank the one percent taking care of us today.”

It was then time for Eipperle, a Class of 1982 Marshalltown High School graduate who spent 40 years in the Army National Guard and Army Reserve before retiring as a Sergeant Major in 2023, to take the podium. Eipperle, who now resides in Ankeny with his wife Julie, is the proud father of two GMG graduates — son Nicholas and daughter Monica.

He completed three combat deployments to the Middle East and spent time in Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan and Kuwait, and Eipperle received several awards after being wounded in Afghanistan and got the chance to meet former President Barack Obama.

During his speech, Eipperle expressed sincere gratitude for what he saw as a positive shift in the way that returning veterans are treated now compared to the 1970s and ’80s, especially after the Vietnam War. In his early days, he was instructed not to wear his uniform if he went off the post.

“You keep hearing — and we just had an election not long ago — how divided our country is, and I really don’t think it’s all that divided because there’s so much support for our veterans and our servicemembers,” Eipperle said. “And these things that we’re doing for Veterans Day, it’s just amazing — 40 years ago, we didn’t have that. Thirty years ago, we didn’t really have any of that.”

Sgt. Maj. Todd Eipperle, a Marshalltown native who served for 40 years in the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve, was the guest speaker at Monday morning’s GMG Veterans Day program.

He felt that the first Gulf War and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks played a role in changing the perception and reception of servicemen and women, but he was grateful for the respect shown to veterans across the country.

“I’ve been in so many countries. In all these different countries that I’ve been to, none of them have what we have here,” Eipperle said. “The freedoms that we have here in the U.S., people complain about different things, and nobody has what we have. That’s why so many people are trying to come here because of the freedoms and liberties that we enjoy, and thanks to our military, we have those.”

As he wound down his address, Eipperle shared a brief history of Veterans Day and became emotional in paying tribute to those who have served.

“On this Veterans Day, we give thanks to millions of Americans who have strengthened our nation with their example of service and sacrifice. Our veterans are drawn from many generations and from many backgrounds. Some charged across green battlefields. Some fought on the open seas. Some patrolled the open skies, and it all contributed to the character and to the greatness of America,” he said. “As we raise our flag and the bugle sounds ‘Taps,’ we remember that the men and women of America’s armed forces serve at great cost. They follow in a great tradition handed down to them by America’s veterans.”

The service concluded with the high school band playing “America the Beautiful” followed by a slideshow and the customary bugle performance of “Taps” after the colors had been retired.

GMG students Gracelyn Peak and Joss Warnell demonstrated the flag folding ceremony as part of the Veterans Day event at the high school on Monday.