Grout Museum District

Helping our heroes Homefront Connections Military and Veterans Resource Fair Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum

Sunday, September 28, 2014

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Homefront Connections

Active military, veterans can locate resources at Oct. 7 fair NANCY JUSTIS

Attend the resource fair

newsroom@wcfcourier.com‌

Less than one year after hosting the first military and veterans resource fair, the Grout Museum District is planning for an encore on Oct. 7, hoping it will continue the success of the first effort held in March.

Last year, more than 150 military members, veterans and their families were given the opportunity to meet with valuable local resources to help them live their daily lives.

This year’s fair will be from 3 to 7 p.m.

Snacks and entertainment will be provided.

Homefront Connections is a collaboration between the Grout, the University of Northern Iowa, Hawkeye Community College, and the Black Hawk County Commission for Veterans Affairs. The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum, part of the Grout Museum District, will host more than 40 organizations again which can connect with service members and their families in a “one-stop shop.”

“Black Hawk County Supervisor Linda Laylin invited the Veterans Liaison directors at UNI and HCC and me to get together and discuss our programs, how we currently serve veterans and talk about cooperating,” said Grout Executive Director Billie Bailey.

“The first fair was the result. It was well received, so we decided to do it again, with a different time frame, hoping to include folks who were unable to attend the first fair.”

The Veterans Museum certainly provides a key connection to the current and military residents of the Cedar Valley.

“We have felt from the very beginning that our mission is part of honoring Iowa veterans,” said Molly Scullin, museum assistant. “We’re a museum, but we also put a lot of focus on our veterans. We take that honor seriously. We try to make sure that with the connections we have, we’re providing a great service.”

The Grout has interviewed veterans to honor and preserve their stories for all time. Military members are honored on plaques, are listed in the Grout’s Iowa Veterans kiosk, and fallen heroes are recognized in the museum’s memorial area.

Many military reunions have been held in the Grout’s facilities.

Scullin says Homefront Connections is

WHAT: Homefront Connections Military and Veterans Resource Fair WHEN: 3 to 7 p.m. Oct. 7 WHERE: Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Musuem DETAILS: Free for veterans, active duty and their families Homefront Connections is a resource fair for current military members and veterans of all branches of service and their families.

This resource fair is a collaboration of University of Northern Iowa, Hawkeye Community College, Black Hawk County Commission for Veterans Affairs and the Grout Museum District.

Homefront Connections vendors AMVETS Career Center Aspire Cedar Rapids Veterans Center Disabled American Veterans English River Outfitters Hawkeye Community College Hick’s Place Homes for Heroes Iowa Workforce Development Midwest Military Outreach Social Security Administration State Vocational Rehabilitation University of Northern Iowa University of Northern Iowa Educational Opportunity Center Veterans Affairs Home Loan Consultant Waterloo Veterans Affairs Clinic

BRANDON POLLOCK / Courier Staff Photographer

A view from inside the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum. a natural extension of the Grout’s mission.

Many of the organizations that participated in March have re-upped to participate in the second event, such as Retrieving Freedom, ASPIRE Therapeutic Riding Program, and Midwest Military Outreach.

Other organizations provide financial literacy information, law advice, education, employment and resume services.

Midwest Military Outreach is an information and referral service connecting all the possible resources and delivers “a tailored package of information to a service member or family based on their individual needs and location,” said government liaison John Mikelson.

In addition to topics listed above, Outreach provides help with “Dress for

Success,” Veterans Affairs claims, assistance in navigating the VA system, adaptive technology, homelessness resources and VA home loan information.

“Homefront Connections provides a showcase for the public to see the service providers as available locally and for the services to connect with each other,” Mikelson said.

“Einstein said E=MC2... . Everything we do is magnified through communication and collaboration. So in the end it is the community as a whole that benefits from veteran reintegration.”

ASPIRE has been approved to provide services through the Wounded Warrior Project. Veterans need to be registered

See Homefront, page 3

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Fair

Service providers connect with military veterans seeking aid

From page 2 with Wounded Warrior to take advantage of ASPIRE’s programs, including a veteran who is a licensed mental health therapist.

“The programs that we offer are ground programs with the horses along with riding programs,” said Marilyn Moore, ASPIRE executive director. “Homefront Connections is one avenue that is pursued to assist in bringing awareness of our program to the veterans and their families.

“Networking is vitally important in providing services to these families.

ASPIRE believes that with partnership with the horses, it will assist in some of the healing process (for those who have given their lives for our freedom).”

“We’re hosting the second Connections so quickly because we found there was real need,” Scullin said. “To have these kind of resources in our community is phenomenal. It’s amazing to see the variety, but also their cooperation with each other.”

A memorial mosaic wall at the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum.

BRANDON POLLOCK / Courier Staff Photographer

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Organizations come together to serve area military, vets NANCY JUSTIS newsroom@wcfcourier.com‌

It takes a village, they say.

That’s what it took to put together the first Homefront Connections Military & Veterans Resource Fair which took place in March.

That’s also what it’s taking to put together the second fair Oct. 7 at the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum. That’s what it takes to assist the Cedar Valley’s active military personnel and veterans in their daily living, from education resources and health benefits to housing loans and job searches.

The Resource Fair idea came about during collaborative talks between four groups who directly or indirectly work with local military and veteran persons. Black Hawk County Supervisor Linda Laylin is the Supervisor’s liaison with the county’s Veterans Affairs Commission. Shortly after her election to the position, she met with Grout Museum District Executive Director Billie Bailey.

“We got together because we wanted to talk about future funding of similar organizations to the Grout,” Laylin said. “How we could work together. Knowing funding’s always tough, we asked what else can we be doing, how can we work together. My connection with the commission and my work with ‘Boots’, a program which helps veterans with the remodeling or remakes of their homes, particularly if they need to become handicapped accessible, led me to the connection with Billie.”

Joining Laylin and Bailey in discussions were Julia Heuer of the University of Northern Iowa’s Military and Veteran Student Services office, and Robin Knight of Hawkeye Community College’s Military and Veterans Services office. Both Heuer and Knight had had contact with the Boots program.

“One of the things we all had interest in was developing a veterans center (in the community),” Laylin said. “What do we want for a center? But it’s not about what we want, but what the veterans want. That was going to require funding and surveying. The commission does not have the funding

The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum. to do a survey. We haven’t given up on a center or the survey, we’ve just taken a slower approach.”

Thus, the Resource Fair.

“There are a lot of job fairs out there,” Laylin explained, “but not somebody to say here are the services in your community or county and come to a one-stop shop place to find all you need to know. The Resource Fair is meant to provide that one-stop shop.”

The fair’s vendor list, which included Hero 2 Hire, the Commission for Veterans Affairs, Retrieving Freedom and the Family Alliance for Veterans of America, among many more, was derived from groups that UNI, HCC, the Grout and Laylin already worked with. Many of the same vendors are participating in October.

“The outreach was there, and we wanted to continue that,” Laylin said. “They are programs specific to a veteran’s needs.”

The Commission of Veteran Affairs is one of those organizations participating as noted.

It endeavors to assist honorably discharged veterans and/or dependents by “respectfully and judiciously promoting communication, cooperation and education between the veteran, legislators and the public and private sector to insure that the needs of the veteran/dependents are being met.”

The needs include receiving all compensation, pensions, hospitalization, insurance, education, employment pay and gratuities, loan guarantees, or “any other aid or benefit to which they may be entitled under any law.”

Relief assistance includes food, shelter, utilities, dental, eye glasses, medication, telephone, burial, clothing, furniture, education, home repairs, medical and transportation. The commission reviews any request that the vet-

Photos by BRANDON POLLOCK / Courier Staff Photographer

A statue of the Five Sullivan Brothers stands in the museum. eran deems an emergency need.

“Basically, the commission is to put you in touch with others who know it or doing it for you themselves,” Laylin said. “It has a presence at UNI and Hawkeye one day

each week.

“The first fair was very successful. We expect the second to be as successful if not more so in terms of vendors and attendees,” she added.

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One-man show ‘Beyond Glory’ brings stories of eight medal of honor recipients NANCY JUSTIS newsroom@wcfcourier.com‌

CEDAR FALLS — “Beyond Glory,” a oneman show starring award-winning stage and screen star Stephen Lang, brings the stories of eight Medal of Honor recipients to the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

It’s all part of Veterans Week on the University of Northern Iowa campus.

Adapted from Larry Smith’s book, “Beyond Glory” recounts oral histories of veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Lang has performed the show on military bases, on the floor of Congress and saw a run on Broadway and in Chicago. He is bringing the show to various states for a limited run in October and November.

According to Amy Hunzelman, the

Stephen Lang stars in the one-man show, “Beyond Glory.”

Center’s Director of Education and Special Programs, the play came to the attention from a booking conference that staff and board members attended.

“The center values the power of the arts to influence and transform the lives of all people, strengthening and improving our communities,” Hunzelman said. “‘Beyond Glory’ hits all of the Center’s

values and beliefs.”

“By presenting ‘Beyond Glory’, the Gallagher-Bluedorn allows the Center to connect with and engage military members, families and veterans in the Cedar Valley and throughout the state of Iowa.”

Lang also is expected to speak at the AMVETS prior to the play about his preparation for the role and why the role is important to him.

In conjunction with the play, several other events will take place. The Center and UNI’s College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences will host a Veterans Resource Fair in the Gallagher-Bluedorn lobby from 3 to 7 p.m. Confirmed vendors include the AMVETS Career Center, Aspire, Cedar Rapids Veterans Center, Disabled American Veterans, Hick’s Place, Black Hawk County Veteran Affairs, Midwest Military Outreach, UNI’s Veteran Affairs and the

Veterans Commission.

“The Fair is an opportunity to meet people who want to hire veterans, and for other services that provide support to veterans and military personnel,” said Sarah Pauls, CHAS marketing manager.

In addition, a Quilts of Valor ceremony will take place from 4 to 6 p.m., also in the lobby. “The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor”, its web site explains.

“Quilts of Valor will be presenting from 15 to 20 quilts to World War II veterans,” Pauls said. “That is quite a ceremony since they normally present around five at a time.”

Tickets for “Beyond Glory” cost between $28 and $45. Call the ticket office at 319-273-4849.

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Iowa Veterans Museum planning Vietnam War exhibition NANCY JUSTIS newsroom@wcfcourier.com‌

The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum is participating in the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration scheduled for 20152016. The project will add to the museum’s existing Vietnam display.

As a commemorative partner, the museum has committed to the following: An original temporary exhibit that will provide an overview of the war and feature Iowa’s participation in it. Included will be photos, letters, memorabilia, media, interviews and artifacts. Titled “365 and Counting: Iowans in the Vietnam War, the exhibit is scheduled to open in July 2015 and run for 365 days.

Expansion of the Veterans Oral History Project, which includes Vietnam veterans from the entire state of Iowa. Over 300 interviews with veterans who served already have been conducted.

“I have found (the interviews have) given voice to the veterans,” said Curator Robin Venter.

“It’s given them an opportunity to speak up. Vietnam veterans are a little more reluctant, but these guys are coming here, seeing it, and it’s helping them to come to terms with (their experiences)”.

Circulation of the mobile kiosk to libraries, schools, museums and other public venues with interviews and historical content about the Vietnam War experience already has been implemented.

“The reason why we named it ‘365 and Counting’ is because so many soldiers served for 365 days,” explained Venter. “They marked down the days, whether it was writing it on their helmets, on their wall, putting it on an Iowa flag.”

The museum’s current permanent Vietnam display includes a UH-1 “Huey” helicopter actually flown by an Iowa serviceman, a diorama of a Conex box, a crate which shipped supplies overseas

BRANDON POLLOCK / Courier Staff Photographer

The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum will be the site for an exhibition on the Vietnam War, highlighting Iowan’s participation. then was used for storage and even living facilities on bases; and a Voices of Veterans Theatre.

The latter includes six stories of veterans which is accessed by pushing a button. Information continues to be gathered.

The new temporary exhibit, still in the planning stages, will include a virtual wall honoring the service and sacrifice of those Iowans who died or are still listed as missing.

The project is based on the website “Faces to Go With Names: Iowa’s Fallen Vietnam Soldiers” developed by Army veteran Tom Brickman and his daughter, Shari Kirkpatrick.

The two have collected photos of all but five of the Iowans who died in Vietnam. They were posted online and shared with the Vietnam Wall Memorial in

Washington, D.C. The collection has been turned over to the museum, which is being developed into an interactive exhibit.

Photos, information about each individual’s service experience and record, and the circumstances surrounding their death, amongst other available data, will be included.

“The ‘Faces to Go With Names’ project was started nationally,” Venter said. “It was Tom’s mission to collect all of the 850 Iowa pictures. You can read a name on a wall but if you see that face and you can read a personal story about them, all of a sudden they become a person.”

Venter said she and her committee of mostly volunteers hope the new exhibit will focus on the war’s timeline, most likely starting prior to 1960 with the lead

up to hostilities and covering the 13 years until the fall of Saigon.

Some years may not have as much information, other years will be full of important events, such as the Tet Offensive. Popular music of the time also may be piped into the exhibit area.

“It also will tell the stories of what was going on in the world out-of-country,” Venter said.

“Who was president, etc.

“Obviously, we can’t highlight everything that happened in 13 years. We want to spark interest and hopefully people then will go out and learn more on their own.”

Museum staff members working on the project besides Venter include historian Bob Neymeyer and research assistant Chris Schackelford. Those helping in a volunteer capacity are Dave

Albaugh, Air Force veteran and a member of the museum’s board of directors; Army veterans Jim Cavanagh, Rick Reuter and Larry Walters; and Navy veteran Steve Wikert.

Two volunteers helping with the Faces to Go With Names project include Marcea Seible, professor of English at Hawkeye Community College; and Sally Yakish, retired John Deere worker and a member of the museum’s IT committee for over six years.

Venter says the museum is in the process of acquiring funding for the projects.

In addition, “we are always needing help in collecting information, artifacts and images; always in need of more volunteers.”

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Student veterans can receive assistance, participate in events at UNI NANCY JUSTIS newsroom@wcfcourier.com‌

A relatively new office on the University of Northern Iowa campus, the Military and Veteran Student Services mission is to “support military members, veterans, and their families as they transition between military duty, college, and new careers.”

Julia Heuer, a veteran herself who served in South Korea and Bosnia, has been coordinator of the program for nearly two years.

Prior to her hiring, a UNI staff member was assigned 20 percent of their time to overseeing the office.

Heuer says MVSS focuses on several avenues in assisting current military and veterans with whatever issues have arisen in their daily lives, including their educational endeavors.

“The first and foremost (goal) is supporting students on campus,” she said. “We have inquiries from a lot of (service) members who are still in the military who are looking at what school they want to go to. They’ll contact me about the admissions process and about getting their benefits.

“Once they are here, we aid in maintaining their benefits, letting them know what community resources there are, helping if they need to file for disability, and letting them know of other services available through the VA .

“Some are still in the military while they are going to school, in the Guard or reserves, so they may have conflicts with their student schedules and their military duties.”

Heuer explains the second path involves educating the campus and community on military culture and how best to support service members. Several initiatives have been taken in this effort. “(MVSS) is part of an organization called IA ACME (Iowa Advisory Council on Military Education, formed in March 2012 by representatives from state universities and colleges). It’s all about a network of education support for military members.”

IA ACME holds an annual conference, locations rotated between the Regents institutions. UNI hosted the conference last year.

MVSS also is heavily involved in planning campus activities during Veterans Week, which is the week of Nov. 10 this year. Heuer says she hopes to have a civilian who worked in Afghanistan with the military speak to the community about her experiences. A documentary film about women in the military will be shown, “a story that doesn’t always get told,” while a panel of female veterans or those currently serving in the military also will be held.

Another panel comprised of successful community members who served will speak to how their service enhanced their civilian careers. “We’re trying to bring an understanding of those soft skills (developed in the military) that people don’t often think about.

“We also partner with ROTC here on campus. Last year they brought in some military vehicles from the Guard to show a presence during Veterans Week,” Heuer said.

“In partnering with the Gallagher Bluedorn (Performing Arts Center), ‘Beyond Glory’, a play about eight Medal of Honor winners, will be on Nov. 13. A resource fair will be held prior to the play.”

As part of the committee which organized the first Homefront Connections event last March and which will be Oct. 7 at the

Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum, Heuer says the first “was a huge success. Better than even I could have imagined. It’s just one more way to assist our military and veterans in letting them know about the services out there which can help them live their daily lives.”

Heuer says she knows of about 200 service members or veterans attending UNI and around 70 or 80 dependents who are using benefits. Until there is a better identification of military background in the enrollment process, she can only track those students who are using military benefits.

Most are between ages 26 and 33, Heuer says, in addition to National Guard and reservists who have just graduated high school and are starting their service. Most requests for assistance revolve around financial need.

“Whether it’s accessing benefits that are available to them,

figuring out how to do that or trying to find other resources because they have exhausted the VA ones,” Heuer said. “Also, we get a lot of questions about food and housing issues — everyday living needs.”

UNI student Olivia McBride is a member of the Iowa Army National Guard. She has been serving for six years and deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 during Operation Enduring Freedom.

“The (MVSS) has allowed me to interact with like-minded people,” she said. “Because we all have a common interest (the military) I am able to rely on them as a support group ... . The MVSS gives me a whole network of people that I can count on for guidance. My college career wouldn’t have been nearly as successful without the center.”

Veteran Eric Benson, who served nearly 13 years in the US Navy in Iraq and Afghanistan and three

years at Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, has used the MVSS for multiple reasons. Taking advantage of the VA’s VocRehab program, a VocRehab specialist can use the MVSS office for meeting privately with Benson.

Benson attended last year’s inaugural Military Ball on campus, hosted by the MVSS; and UNI’s Veteran’s Summit, made possible by the office and UNIVA. “(MVSS) is a great place for veterans and their providers as well as a space for UNIVA to organize their efforts in supporting military and veterans on campus,” he said.

UNI has been selected a Military-Friendly University in Military Advanced Education’s Guide to Military Friendly Colleges and Universities. The Guide provides potential students with information about institutions that go out of their way to implement military friendly policies.

PROUD TO SUPPORT OUR LOCAL VETERANS

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Veterans prepare for next step at Hawkeye Community College NANCY JUSTIS newsroom@wcfcourier.com‌

As with many college campuses, Hawkeye Community College found that there was a need for a full-time veterans services coordinator for students and a dedicated space for those students to find printed resource materials and for a place to call their own.

HCC Military and Veterans Services Coordinator Robin Knight was working with veterans on campus in a part-time role while working in the financial aid office.

A year ago she transitioned fulltime into her current position.

“When I started (at HCC) in 1997 there were 76 veterans (on campus),” she said. “We now have about 320. We created a veterans task force. We initiated a survey and presented to the administration the need to have a full-time coordinator.

“(The student veterans) all indicated that it was important for them to have that point of contact.

They needed someone who knew how to navigate all the different applications they needed to complete and who could refer them if they needed different services.”

Part of the upgrade also included creating a veterans resource center which opened just three months ago in the Brock Student Center.

The Military and Veterans Services office is dedicated to assisting HCC students with obtaining education benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill programs and Federal and State Tuition Assistance programs for Guard and Reservist personnel.

Knight says a small percentage of those 320 students are spouses or other dependents. That population is increasing.

“Under the Post-911 GI Bill, the veterans now are able to transfer

their benefits to their dependents,” she said. “Maybe they don’t intend to go back to school, so they transfer those benefits to their children or their spouse.”

As a community college, Knight says the majority of students use their GI Bill benefits in the Liberal Arts or transfer programs.

“But when they come on campus it’s their first experience back in the college setting after many, many years. We find they may need remedial course work.

It’s not that they don’t have the intellect, but they’ve been out of school for so long they need to take those refresher courses and get their footing back in the academic world.”

She also said veterans find a community college setting more comfortable because of the smaller environment.

“I think we help prepare them for the next step,” Knight said.

“This is a time when they can

prepare themselves to go to a larger institution.”

Richard Morgan is one of those students who began his academics at HCC, then transferred to the University of Northern Iowa. Currently a reserve, he served four years in the Marine Corps as an Infantry Machine Gunner and did a couple tours in Afghanistan. His highest rank achieved was Corporal (E-4).

“It didn’t hit me how much (the MVS) helped me until I transferred to UNI,” he said.

“They linked me up with good advisors which put me in position to double major at UNI.” Tony French also began his academics at Hawkeye before transferring to Upper Iowa. He currently works in a supervisory role with a local company. He’s retired from the military following 25 years active duty as a Master Gunnery Sargent (E9) in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served in the Congo and Uganda among

other locations.

“The Veterans Service office provided the road map and support to rekindle my back-to-school process — assisting with the financial aid process and keeping me abreast of any changes that would impact me either directly or indirectly,” he said. “Providing advice to what VA education program would best suit my situation.

The survey conducted by HCC also indicated that the veterans wanted a place where they could de-stress and congregate.

The center is stocked with printed resource materials, three computers, CAC (Common Access Card) smart readers, printers and scanners. A small refrigerator, microwave, coffee makers and donated snacks are available.

The HCC Military and Veterans Services office participated in the first Homefront Connections event at the Grout Museum District and is participating again.