‘It takes courage to ask for help’

Area veterans were honored in ceremony at the Memorial Wall downtown on Saturday. Staff Sgt. Rene Castilleja of the 891st Engineer Battalion shone the spotlight on mental health and suicide rates of veterans.
Maggie Barnett releases black balloons to honor prisoners of war and those missing in action. Photo by Susan Lynn / Iola Register
by Susan Lynn-Register editor
Published: November 14, 2022
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Area veterans were honored in ceremony at the Memorial Wall downtown on Saturday. Staff Sgt. Rene Castilleja of the 891st Engineer Battalion shone the spotlight on mental health and suicide rates of veterans.

A somber ceremony Saturday morning on the Iola square marked Veterans Day. 

“Military service is not for the faint of heart,” Staff Sgt. Rene Castilleja reminded the audience gathered at the Veterans Wall. “Most civilian jobs don’t require risk to life or limb. Unlike members of the military, civilians can live where they want and can quit whenever they want.”

Castilleja, a combat engineer and training noncommissioned officer for the 891st Engineer Battalion stationed in Iola, delivered Saturday’s keynote speech.

Susan Lynn-Register editor

Susan joined the Register in 2000 and succeeded her father, Emerson Lynn, as editor and publisher in 2001. He was at the helm from 1965 to 2000. The fourth generation of her family to publish the Register, Susan has also served as president of the Kansas Press Association and the William Allen White Foundation. She currently serves on the Kansas Commission of Judicial Conduct. She attended the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. She has a liberal arts degree from Western Washington University and a master’s of library science from Wayne State University. Susan is married to local physician Brian Wolfe. In their free time they love to travel, spend time with their grandchildren and take advantage of Iola’s amazing trails.

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