7 added to Coralville Lake’s Veterans Trail

IOWA CITY – North of the Coralville Lake dam Monday afternoon, boaters and swimmers took to the water on a hot and sunny day.

Just east of the dam, more than 250 people gathered to recognize seven military veterans who served their county in times of war.

It was the split personality of Memorial Day writ small.

“It's great to see on a weekend a lot of people contribute to parties and cookouts that there's a great turnout here,” said Col. Shawn McGinley, commander of the Rock Island District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees Coralville Lake.

The ceremony honored seven men whose names were added to features along the nearby Veterans Trail. There have now been 150 local veterans recognized since the trail's dedication in 1989.

This year's honorees were:

• Robert W. Benson, of Iowa City, U.S. Army, World War II,
• Richard D. Elliott, of Lone Tree, U.S. Army, World War II,
• Chester L. Laws, of Iowa City, U.S. Navy, World War II and the Korean War,
• Thomas W. Meade, of North Liberty, U.S. Army, Vietnam War,
• David A. Megan, of North Liberty, U.S. Army, Vietnam War,
• Bruce A. Scheff, of Swisher, U.S. Army, Vietnam War,
• Jimmie L. Thompson, of Ely, U.S. Navy, Vietnam War.

A sampling of the awards the seven have received are: one Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device, four Bronze Star medals, one Air Medal and two Purple Hearts.

“I feel very somber just from the standpoint that so many people I served with, I wish they were here,” said Scheff, 63. “But I'm honored.”

Only Laws, who is hospitalized, was not present. He was represented by his daughter Susan Davis.

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Sentman, of Tiffin, the event's emcee, said the experiences of the men were incredible.

Eliott flew 26 missions in Europe and counted 137 holes in his plane after one mission, yet no one on his crew was ever hurt.

Benson received the Bronze Star after volunteering to be part of a midnight mission to retrieve two wounded soldiers in Okinawa. His dad, a World War I veteran, had told him to never volunteer for a detail.

“Crazy as I was, I volunteered anyway,” were his words shared by Sentman.

The ceremony also included the placing of five white roses on a cross in honor of five previous Veterans Trail inductees who died in the past year. There are now 63 names on the cross.

While the event was focused on veterans of past wars, the current conflicts in the Middle East have hit home in Iowa recently.

Three Iowa National Guard soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in April and an airman from Ottumwa was killed there last week. Several more Iowans have been wounded this spring.

About 2,800 Iowa National Guard soldiers are deployed in Afghanistan.

The “sooner we get them home, the better,” Sentman said.

[gallery columns="2"]