Iowans honor law officers, Vietnam veterans in separate tributes

DES MOINES — Iowans crowded around two separate memorials Friday to honor law officers and soldiers who have died in the line of duty and to say thank you to the ones still serving or are suffering from the effects of protecting others.

Gov. Terry Branstad did double duty at events on the state Capitol grounds, first honoring four fallen peace officers — including two from Des Moines killed in a head-on collision last March — and then moving up the hill to unveil a new granite plaque honoring survivors of the Vietnam War.

'We really can't say thank you enough to those who have served our nation,' Branstad told several hundred people gathered at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that he helped unveil in 1984. Now, as the nation's longest-serving governor in his sixth term, Branstad was back to showcase a new 'Iowa Vietnam War In-Memory Memorial Plaque' dedicated to the honor of the Iowans who for many years have suffered from the effects of their duty in Vietnam and Southeast Asia during conflict from 1961 to 1975.

Branstad said the plaque was a tribute to Vietnam veterans' 'selfless sacrifice, especially under difficult circumstances without the appreciation they deserved from their countrymen.'

Retired Col. Robert King, executive director of the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs, many military men and women who served during the Vietnam War era continue to suffer and have had premature deaths related to their service as a result of Agent Orange-induced illnesses, post-traumatic stress injuries, and a growing number of other registered causes.

King said the new plaque reflects on those Iowans who are 'hidden casualties of Vietnam' and provides a lasting monument to their memory and service.

'It's really nothing short of inspirational,' Branstad told those in attendance.

Earlier, at the nearby Peace Officer Memorial outside the Oran Pape State Office Building, uniformed police from around Iowa gathered to honor four fallen officers: Iowa Board of Parole field agent Albert Paul, who died in February 1938; Ames Police Sgt. Howard James Snider, who died in June 2012; and Des Moines police officers Susan Louise Farrell and Carlos Bernabe Puente-Morales, who were killed in a March 26 head-on car crash on Interstate 80 that claimed four lives.

'Today we honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice,' said Jeff Ritzman of the state Public Safety Commissioner's office.

'It is because dedicated, selfless, extraordinary officers like the men and woman we are honoring today that we can go about our day to day lives with a sense of safety and security,' Ritzman told family members, dignitaries and law officers who had gathered at the memorial. 'Today we remember those officers who didn't make it home to their families.'