Memorial Day events are planned across Iowa as communities gather to honor the men and women who died while serving in the United States military. Ceremonies, parades, museum events, and tributes are scheduled statewide on Monday, May 25.
The Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs will host two official State of Iowa Memorial Day observances. The first ceremony begins at 8 a.m. at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Adel. A second ceremony is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown. Both events are free and open to the public.
Volunteers are also scheduled to place flags at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery on Friday, May 22, beginning at 9 a.m., weather permitting.
The keynote speaker at the Adel ceremony will be Col. Eric Soults, Brigade Commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division of the Iowa Army National Guard, recently returned from deployment supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. In Marshalltown, Lt. Col. Jodi Marti, Battalion Commander of the 334th Brigade Support Battalion, Iowa Army National Guard, will deliver the keynote address following her recent redeployment from the same mission.
Both ceremonies will be streamed live on Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs and Iowa Veterans Home social media pages and later posted on the department’s YouTube channel.
At the Iowa Gold Star Military Museum on Camp Dodge, state leaders and veterans organizations will participate in the annual Memorial Day observance from 5 a.m. until noon. The event will also include the Gold Star Memorial Day Blood Drive and a free breakfast for attendees.
Additional Memorial Day observances are planned across the state:
- In Des Moines, the Marine Corps League’s Larry Nehring Detachment will host its annual ceremony at 10 a.m. near the memorials on the south side of the State Capitol. Army and Vietnam veteran Roger Blanchfield is scheduled to speak.
- Highland Memory Gardens will host a 9 a.m. Memorial Day service featuring bagpipes, an honor guard, Patriot Guard Riders, and a two-mile Avenue of Flags.
- In West Des Moines, McLaren’s Resthaven Chapel & Cemetery will hold its 95th annual Memorial Day Service of Remembrance at 11 a.m.
- In Council Bluffs, “The Wall That Heals,” a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, will be displayed at the Mid-America Center from May 22 through May 25. A closing ceremony is planned for 2 p.m. on Memorial Day.
- The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum in Waterloo will offer free admission for veterans during special Memorial Day hours. Screenings of the “Voices of Iowa: Pearl Harbor” documentary are scheduled throughout the day.
- In Cedar Rapids, Cedar Memorial Park will host an 11 a.m. tribute ceremony Monday featuring patriotic music, a keynote address, and the display of more than 1,500 American flags along its Avenue of Flags throughout the holiday weekend.
- The Keokuk National Cemetery will host a formal Memorial Day ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday as part of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration observances.
- In McGregor, the McGregor-Marquette Chamber Memorial Day Parade begins at 10 a.m.
- Sioux City will hold a Memorial Day ceremony at Memorial Park Cemetery followed by participation in Fleet Farm’s nationwide Taps Across America tribute.
