A special band will perform a pre-Veteran’s Day concert this weekend to honor Iowans who’re currently serving in the military. Spokesperson Karla Killinger says the Iowa Military Veterans Band is made up of musicians who know first hand what it’s like to serve our country. She says the band has been in operation for 10 years. She says her father Karl Killinger is the director.
Her father and his friend Vern Hintz who are both World War Two veterans came up with the idea for the band. She says the turnout has been so good that they’ve been performing at least six concerts a year. Killinger says the band has nearly one hundred men and women veterans who served from World War II through Vietnam and some retired members of the 34th Army National Guard band.
She says the band is the only one of its kind in the nation. “It’s about patriotism and accomplished musicians.” Killinger says the concert should give everyone a lift. She says there’ll be a lot of patriot music and says in this time of war, it’s good for us all to rally together and enjoy our citizenship.
Killinger says they’ll have some special performers for the concert, identical triplett girls who’re trumpet players known as the Stoneback sisters. They’ll perform at the concert. The concert is Sunday at three p.m. in the Des Moines Civic Center. The concert is free.