Governor Kim Reynolds will be at ceremonies in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids this afternoon as dozens of Iowa National Guard soldiers who were deployed to the Middle East this past summer land back in Iowa. A midday welcome home ceremony is also scheduled in Sioux City. About 575 Iowa National Guard soldiers are returning today at the three sites.
“Nothing compares to the immense pride and gratitude you feel at these events. It’s one of my favorite experiences as governor…We should always celebrate our service members,” Reynolds said during a news conference Wednesday at the stateouse. “We absolutely owe them a debt of gratitude for their willingness to step up and wear the uniform and defend the freedoms that we get to enjoy every single day.”
Reynolds said part of her own effort to honor the service of veterans is her plan to revise the county-based system for veterans services. Under the bill, state funding for each county’s Veterans Service Office would be linked to the county’s performance in signing up veterans for benefits and the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs will create a statewide system for claims. Reynolds said it’s “unacceptable” that only 29% of Iowa veterans are receiving all the benefits they’ve earned.
“We have to get better at what we’re doing,” Reynolds said. “We have to stop just allocating money and not having any expectations or outcomes tied to (it).”
Reynolds also provided a brief update on the nine soldiers from the Des Moines-based Army Reserve unit who were injured a dozen days ago in the attack in Kuwait that killed two Iowans. Reynolds said eight of the injured are now being treated at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and the other soldier remains at a military hospital in Germany.
“Please keep our fallen soldiers and their families in your prayers as well as all of our American troops who are still in the Middle East,” Reynolds said, “including our remaining Iowa National Guard soldiers and airmen who are still deployed.”
CBS News is reporting the Iranian drone attack in Kuwait that killed six soldiers from the Army Reserve unit based at Fort Des Moines also injured dozens, including over 30 soldiers from various units who remain hospitalized today.