FROM FLOATS TO FELLOWSHIP

All they wanted was to build a memorable float for Newton’s first Fourth of July parade in 25 years. And that’s precisely what members of the Jasper County Vietnam Veterans group did in 1991, the same year the Gulf War ended. While folks all across the United States celebrated their patriotism, the local veterans group found the healing they needed and the welcome home they deserved.

Reports from the Newton Daily News and Des Moines Register at the time said more than 3,000 people watched the group tow its handmade float, a quarter-scale replica of a “Huey” helicopter, down First Avenue. Builders used a massive ceiling fan in place of the rotor blade and had covered the body in spray-painted napkins matching the colors of military fatigues.

Behind the helicopter was a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The float took more than a month to construct, and during that time the veterans would talk to one another about what they went through. Bud Pickett, a longtime member of the group, said the guys and their wives would socialize together like an informal peer therapy session. War and wounds were common topics.

“Unless you’ve been in the service, it’s hard to talk to someone about it. There is a certain language and everything else. A lot of things you don’t want to talk about. And yet if you’re talking to someone who has been there and done that, then they can comprehend,” Pickett told Newton News, noting the veterans group has since become another family to him.

Unlike some early post-traumatic stress disorder meetings Pickett attended upon his return home from the war, the group’s atmosphere was less about voicing complaints and more about building fellowship. When everyone finished sharing stories about their deployment, Picket said they wound up talking more about their personal lives, their families, their children, their work.

“Most of us are all in our 70s now, or 69-and-above you might say. We talk about how we’re getting along with our health, ailment, everything — what we’re basically doing in life. If somebody gets fired up about something we’ll listen to ‘em,” Pickett said. “It used to be we’d talk about war things … Now (we talk about) how we’re getting along in life now and what’s what.”

Three decades of fellowship, stunning floats

It has been 30 years since the Jasper County Veterans Group was formed. Pickett’s wife, Sue, has become the group’s unofficial record keeper. During a recent interview at the Newton News offices, Pickett showcased their collection of news articles, personal photographs, letters and other artifacts taped to pages in old binders and photo albums.

Pickett, 77, brought three scrapbooks with him to the interview. The first page of the biggest book displayed a photo by Dan Ehl of the Newton Daily News. Printed in June 24, 1991, the photo shows off a naked “Huey” helicopter with four members standing beside it: Bob Robson, Allen Gilbert, Bob Wooldridge and Rod Utech. A color photo underneath shows the finished product.

Over the years the group developed a reputation for its handmade floats, which oftentimes were made as replicas to existing monuments and always made an impact at area parades. In addition to Huey, the veterans group created their version of “The Three Soldiers” bronze statue with spray-painted manikins, a river patrol boat and an enlarged battlefield cross, among many others.

Nina Robson, who along with her late husband, Bob Robson, has been with the group since the beginning, said she had just placed a newspaper ad asking for volunteers to welcome the veterans during the chamber’s Fourth of July parade. A number of locals responded to the ad and worked on that initial float every night. Robson had no idea there would be such an interest.

“Little by little, one at a time, Vietnam veterans started showing up,” she said. “In the beginning, there were maybe a half a dozen men and their wives who helped build this float. In fact, my parents helped fold napkins before putting them in the chicken wire and spray painting them O.D. green and camouflage … By the time we premiered the float I think there were 25 Vietnam veterans who walked.”

Coverage of the 1991 parade by former Newton Daily News Editor Pete Hussman said organizers wanted all veterans to be recognized for the Fourth of July festivities, not just the 90 or so local troops who were stationed in the Persian Gulf. The Vietnam War veterans, Hussman wrote, received a “long-overdue welcome of support” as the float paraded through town.

Kept together by camaraderie

The 1991 parade was a better welcome home compared to what some Vietnam War troops received when they arrived back stateside, Robson said. All of the parade floats — and ensuing publicity — also acted as a way to expose the group to other Vietnam veterans. Robson recalled Wooldridge’s interview with a tv news reporter from WHO.

“He said, ‘It takes a Vietnam veteran to welcome home a Vietnam veteran.’ And for the past 30 years that’s what the group has been doing. They’ve been welcoming the veterans home,” Robson said, noting the group is still going strong and attracting new members. “We had two new people just show up for our 30th anniversary potluck. It’s a wonderful legacy.”

Jasper County Vietnam Veterans has continually raised money for organizations helping veterans. Before Freedom Flights were established, the group sent 32 members to Washington, D.C. to visit all the monuments. Robson said the group was more than just a “get-together-once-a-year thing” to build floats. It was a calling and an environment to give respect and remember each other.

“Who would have thought a bunch of chicken wire and napkins would have turned into a family that understands one another and get each other,” Robson said. “…There were a half a dozen family who helped build this (first) float, and in the end after all the parades were over with, we had a meeting and said, ‘Now what?’ We started building more floats and just getting together.”

Every so often they’d hold a potluck or the guys would travel to Knoxville. They developed life-long friendships, Robson said. It kept their minds off the traumas of war. The group held monthly meetings, which become more about eating and having fun than talking about battles and other Vietnam experiences. There was so much healing that took place, she said.

“I can only speak as the widow of a Vietnam veteran. When you have witnessed the casualties of war through the eyes of your husband, it’s life-changing. Not everybody had those experiences, but those men who did were not understood,” Robson said. “Finally, the healing began … So to have a group come together out of that, that bond is so strong. They belong. And they know they belong.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com