Honoring veterans who have died in defense of the country needn’t be limited to a single day, Shawn Minihan noted Monday.
Minihan, an Iola native who served in the Navy during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, spoke about those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
He didn’t have to search far to find an example.
Minihan’s great-uncle, Pvt. James E. Monroe, was killed in France in July 1944, barely a month after D-Day.
He was killed, Minihan noted, while transporting mortar ammunition to the front line near the Vire River in Normandy.
Minihan’s great-grandmother, Iolan Edna Monroe, was notified of her son’s death three weeks later.
“I often wondered what that experience was like for my family,” Minihan said. “My grandmother was a year younger than Uncle Jimmy. They must have been very close. And my grandmother had a 6-month-old child, my mother. I can only wonder what it was like to see the officers approaching with the news.
“This isn’t something that is unique to my family,” Minihan continued. “It’s happened to countless families in the last 241 years.”
Americans can honor the fallen, Minihan said, by continuing to aid their families, as well as those who suffer both physical and mental scars of battle.
Minihan, a 1990 Iola High School graduate, went on to earn his law degree before joining the Johnson County attorney’s office in 2012.
He spoke about a pilot program in Johnson County, Veterans Court, in which veterans who commit crimes — usually dealing with drug or alcohol abuse — are given treatment tailored for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or similar ailments.
The program sports a 90 percent success rate, Minihan said.
“If you know anything about recidivism, that is amazing,” Minihan said. “It’s one of those things we can do to help our veterans who came back and need our assistance.”
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MONDAY’S service, greeted with storybook weather conditions, included recognition of the late Kendall Ashford, a World War II veteran who returned to Iola and performed 52 years with the Iola Municipal Band. The band performed the national anthem in its first public showing of the season. The band’s regular weekly performances are scheduled to begin Thursday evening at the courthouse bandstand.
