Photo courtesy of Louisa County Area Vietnam Veterans.

Where Highways 61 and 92 meet in Grandview, you can see a Vietnam War-era “Huey” helicopter elevated from the ground.

This helicopter was an addition to an ever-evolving All Veterans Memorial that was originally dedicated in 1991 by the Louisa County Area Vietnam Veterans. This organization includes veterans from Louisa, Washington, Des Moines and Muscatine Counties, and they meet monthly at the American Legion in Columbus Junction and the VFW in Wapello to discuss matters of the group and bond with each other. Member Larry Dessner says, “We want to keep the veterans together and if somebody’s having a problem possibly financial or post traumatic stress or whatever, if there’s a way we can help those guys out we will do so.”

The group received a $2,000 grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation for their flagpole project. The group plans to install 22 flagpoles in the white fence that surrounds the All Veterans Memorial, and will dedicate these flags this Veterans Day November 11. The group also sells memorial bricks year-round for those who want a veteran’s name engraved at the memorial. Applications for brick engravings can be completed at the memorial in Grandview.