An undeniably proud but also reflective and grateful mood marked the occasion on Saturday morning as well over 100 people — many of them veterans themselves — gathered on the southwest corner of the Marshall County Courthouse property for the official dedication of a new memorial commemorating those who have served in conflicts from WWI all the way up to the most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Steve Storjohann of the Marshalltown Combined Honor Guard served as the emcee for the ceremony and noted that the project — which involved about $180,000 in public and private contributions and also benefited from an in-kind donation of nearly $45,000 in labor and supplies from Con-Struct Inc. and CTI Ready Mix for the concrete slab it sits on — was almost two years in the making. He then passed the microphone off to Father Michael McAndrew for an invocation.

“Heavenly father, we come before you today with hearts full of gratitude. We gather in this place to honor the courageous men and women who have served our country in times of peace and in times of conflict. Their sacrifice, bravery and selflessness stand as a testament to the true meaning of service and love for others that our Lord Jesus taught us,” McAndrew said. “Lord, we thank you for the gift of freedom that has been protected and defended by these brave veterans. We remember their sacrifices and their lives they have given, and we ask that you bless their families, their comrades and all who have served. As we dedicate this monument, we ask for your presence to fill this space and fill our hearts. May it be a symbol of honor, remembrance and gratitude who have laid down their lives so that our liberty might be preserved. May this monument be a source of peace and reflection where we can come to pay our respects and renew our commitment to serving one another in love. We also lift up those who are still serving both at home and abroad and ask you to protect them and give them strength. Lord, we pray for healing for all veterans, especially those who have faced physical and emotional wounds. May your peace that surpasses all understanding be with them. We ask this in the name of your son Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for us all. Amen.”

Storjohann then told the audience that the memorial is a tribute not only to military veterans but first responders like law enforcement, firefighters, 911 and EMS, and the Combined Honor Guard then performed a customary 21-gun salute followed by the playing of “Taps” and McAndrew singing “The Star Spangled Banner.” After acknowledging a host of local dignitaries in the audience, Storjohann welcomed Marshall County Supervisor Jarret Heil to the podium to share his thoughts.

Heil shouted out other current and former county leaders who were in attendance along with Marshalltown Mayor Joel Greer, those who donated to the project and Con-Struct, CTI Ready Mix and McCall Monument, which has locations in Marshalltown and Newton.

“The etchings are just absolutely incredible, and I spent four years living in Washington, D.C. I got to see the monuments out there, and when you look at those monuments out in Washington, D.C. and you look at these etchings, it’s like you took the war monuments, bottled them up and put them right here in the Veterans Capital of Iowa, Marshalltown, Iowa, and it’s just gorgeous,” Heil said. “(Marshall County Veterans Affairs Director) Kevin Huseboe said ‘Well, I’m gonna have a hard time coming up with words for what to say,’ and I kind of felt the same way. But that’s the first thing I could think (of) was just that (it’s) Washington, D.C. right here.”

Referencing the Last Supper and Jesus Christ’s willingness to lay down his life for his disciples, Heil credited veterans for possessing that same sense of selflessness.

“Each of those veterans, they have a love for us that you cannot comprehend, a love for us that they loved this country and they loved you on this day even though we didn’t even exist the day they loved us,” he said. “And so every day that I drive by this wonderful memorial, every day I go to work at the courthouse, I’m gonna think about that love, that love that was given to us by the bravest, the strongest, the toughest individuals to ever wear that uniform.”

Sen. Kara Warme, a Republican from Ames, asked all of the veterans in the crowd to raise their hands and receive a round of applause. She acknowledged political disagreements in the U.S. but added that they are possible because of the freedoms veterans have fought to establish and preserve throughout the country’s nearly 250-year history.

“There’s democracies across the world that have not survived, but here in America, we have. We can disagree on the little things, but we can come together and celebrate that we are brave, we are strong here in our state, we are Iowa nice, and we’re working together to preserve this democracy for the future,” she said. “So I’m just so proud that we have this amazing monument now here in Marshalltown — like Jarret said, the Veterans Capital of our state — and am excited for people to visit it for generations to come.”

Rep. Brett Barker (R-Nevada) reiterated Warme’s remark that Saturday belonged to veterans and not politicians and also asked those who donated or volunteered on the project to raise their hands and be recognized.

“I think it’s incredible that this community really rallies around its veterans and rallies around patriotism like no place else I’ve seen, so good work on that. Keep it going. Congratulations. It means a lot,” he said. “My own family history in the military goes back all the way to the Revolutionary War. My dad’s a veteran, and so it really is fantastic.”

Next weekend, he and his father will attend the commissioning of the new USS Iowa. Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Commandant Todd Jacobus came forward next and quickly gave kudos to the Combined Honor Guard for its seemingly constant presence at events in the community before thanking all of his friends in the audience who have served their country.

He specifically mentioned Marshalltown native Todd Eipperle, who is a veteran of the U.S. Army, the Iowa Army National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve and was wounded in action in Afghanistan.

“Todd Eipperle is commemorated in all of these monuments here, just like so many others are,” Jacobus said.

Earlier that morning, the commandant had the honor of meeting the family of Marshalltown’s own Darwin Judge, who was one of the last two casualties of the Vietnam War when he died on April 29, 1975 protecting the U.S. Embassy in Saigon during its evacuation. Jacobus then shouted out Marshall County Veterans Affairs Director Kevin Huseboe, the driving force behind the memorial project, who presented an “ambitious” plan to the Iowa Commission of Veterans Affairs, laid out the vision and asked for money to get it started.

“He did a phenomenal job of convincing the commission to make a sizable starting (donation) to get this moving forward. There were lots of questions, and he and Shari Coughenour answered those questions magnificently and really got that to a starting point to where it is,” he said. “So Kevin, I want to tell you, incredible job harnessing all of this awesome energy here to make this happen. Thank you so much.”

It was then time for Huseboe himself to speak, and he thanked the Board of Supervisors for choosing him to serve as VA director before recalling an early conversation with Heil during which Huseboe wondered why there was no veterans memorial on the courthouse property. The supervisor’s reply was “Let’s do it.”

“So we hit the ground running (in) November of 2023, put it out for donations, and we hit our mark in five months,” he said.

Huseboe thanked the 58 people who donated and shouted out his design team — Vic Hellberg, Randy Kessler, Deb Millizer and Mike Hanken — for their efforts in turning concepts and ideas into reality.

“In closing, I want to make this short. I’m very humbled over this. I have a hard time taking a lot of credit for a lot of things, but please enjoy, reflect, come visit. This is lit from dusk to dawn. That’s it. Enjoy it people,” he said.

Blom was the last featured speaker and reflected on his experience with three veterans: his late grandfather Eugene Hansen who served in the Korean War, a resident of IVH that he knew as Buzz and Army SSG Scott Nisely of Marshalltown, who was killed in action in Iraq on Sept. 30, 2006. Additionally, he thanked Huseboe and Coughenour for their tireless work on behalf of local veterans and their efforts toward getting the memorial built.

“There were major hurdles along the way, and they never gave up and they just kept plugging away. It’s inspiring what they do every day, but they can’t do this alone,” Blom said. “They work at Veterans Affairs over at the Annex catty corner from the courthouse here helping our disabled veterans get the benefits they deserve for all the wounds visible and not visible. So if you know a veteran that’s not currently connected to the Department of Veterans Affairs here in Marshall County or who has a need for dental care or a car or something fixed on their home, Kevin and Shari can’t do it alone. Please help get those veterans to them and get them connected to the benefits and the care that they deserve.”

He concluded by thanking the staff at IVH — or, as Greer calls it, “The Marshalltown Veterans Home” — for their commitment to those who have served and expressed optimism that the all hands on deck mentality would continue well into the future. Storjohann welcomed Liz Rackl of Rausch Granite, who did the engraving on the monuments, to the podium for a moment of recognition. Rackl, who lives in Minnesota, noted that her cousin Dennis Johnson is an IVH resident.

Artist Liz Rackl of Rausch Granite was recognized for her engraving work on the new Veterans Memorial near the end of Saturday morning’s ceremony.

VFW Post 839 Commander Larry Tuttle presented the shell casings from the 21-gun salute to Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Carol Hibbs before Storjohann, in his closing remarks, reflected on the wide variety of patriotic offerings in the Veterans Capital of Iowa — from IVH to the Freedom Rock at the Legion and the new monument on the courthouse grounds.

VFW Post 839 Commander Larry Tuttle, left, presented the shell casings from the 21-gun salute to Marshall County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Carol Hibbs, right, during Saturday morning’s ceremony.

“Again, thank you for your attending and sharing this day with us. Please be safe in your travels at home, and please feel free to stick around (and) take the monuments in,” Storjohann said as he became visibly emotional. “This is geared towards the Vietnam veterans. That is my time, (and for) a lot of the people that are here today, it’s their time. You want to pat somebody on the back or shake their hand? Feel free. Today’s the day to do it. Thank you very much.”

Fittingly, Saturday was National Vietnam War Veterans Day. Speaking with the T-R after the ceremony, father and son Lee and Wyatt Barnett of McCall Monument felt the project was one of the best they had been a part of — noting its unique and round design — and described themselves as humbled by the experience. Rackl credited the design committee for the concept and said that with a few minor tweaks, she was able to bring it to fruition.

“They did a great job of communicating what they wanted,” she said. “I just scratched the rock. They did all the hard work.”

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