It was a busy day for Jacobus and his team, preparing for the veterans parade that passed through the fairgrounds’ main hall at 11 a.m. In attendance were state leaders including Gov. Kim Reynolds, Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg, U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn (an Air Force and Iowa National Guard veteran), Attorney General Brenna Bird, State Auditor Rob Sand and Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig, as well as hundreds of veterans from conflicts since World War II. Howard McDonald, a 102-year-old Normandy veteran from Winterset, served as grand marshal.

After being handed the microphone by event emcee Jackie Schmillen, public affairs director for the Iowa National Guard, Jacobus delivered a brief address from the podium before the parade began. He took time to thank everyone who made the day possible, recalling the words of famed general and future President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the lead-up to the storming of the beach in southwestern France on June 6, 1944, and commended McDonald for his efforts.

“You are about to begin a great crusade. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of freedom-loving people everywhere are with you,” he said, quoting Eisenhower. “I want to thank all who participated today, but a special thank you to those who are bringing this day right home to us… Let us begin this parade, for the hopes and prayers of freedom-loving people everywhere are marching with you.”

He also hoped that events like the parade, which lasted nearly an hour and featured a diverse range of participants, including the Iowa Veterans Home (IVH) bus, would help connect veterans and raise awareness of the resources and services available to them.

Commander Todd Jacobus, who oversees the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs and the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown, speaks to the crowd before the veterans parade at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines on Monday.

“I already know that I’m going home with a bunch of phone numbers of people who need to be connected to a service representative and don’t know how to do it,” Jacobus said. “People like me take it for granted that service representatives can be contacted so easily through a website. That’s not common knowledge, so we need to fill that gap. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

The commandant, who spends a lot of time in Marshalltown because of his responsibilities overseeing IVH, praised Kevin Huseboe and Shari Coughenour of Marshall County Veterans Affairs for their “outstanding work” in helping retired servicemen and women receive the benefits they deserve. Although it began to rain heavily toward the end of the parade, Veterans Day celebrations continued undeterred at the fair, and two patriotic concerts were scheduled for the afternoon – including one by the Iowa Military Veterans Band.

“There are 180,000 veterans in the state of Iowa and I think the group we saw here today was a really good indicator of that group. There was the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, we saw contributions from the Military Order of the Purple Heart, AmVets,” Jacobus said before being interrupted to joyfully accept a veterans challenge coin.

And the overwhelming support for the veterans and the patriotic spirit in the air give him renewed courage again and again.

“There are people who build their fair calendar around this day. If there’s one day I go to the fair, it’s on Veterans Day,” Jacobus said.

Despite the rainy weather, a large crowd gathered for the Veterans Parade at the Iowa State Fair. The Iowa Veterans Home bus was one of many participants.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

[email protected].