‘A special breed’

David Homan has served as emcee of the Fontanelle Memorial Day service for more than 30 years.

Each time he does, he said, it serves as a reminder for himself, his fellow veterans and those gathered before him that freedom is not free — and that everyone should take time to remember those who served the United States and paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Memorial Day services this year will be Monday, May 30. Services will be at 10 a.m. in the Greenfield Cemetery and at the Bridgewater Activity Center. Fontanelle’s service will be at 11 a.m. in the Fontanelle Cemetery. Coffee and rolls at 9 a.m. will precede Bridgewater’s service.

Homan’s maternal grandfather, Glen Ewing, was funeral director in Fontanelle and was instrumental, with others, in getting a Memorial Day service started for the community many years ago.

“I do opening remarks, so when I do the opening remarks before we start the program, I try to encourage the public and inform them of what Memorial Day is all about,” Homan said. “Each of the flags out there represents someone’s life, someone who took time out of their life to go into the service and serve their country. These flags are a good way to show we still think about them.”

In Fontanelle, more than 200 flags are flown in the cemetery on Memorial Day. Carlson American Legion Post 247 has many more flags than that — an estimated 350 in all — but not all are still in condition to be flown.

Area cemeteries regularly add flags to their avenues of flags. This year’s additions in Fontanelle are in remembrance of Dennis Johnson and Bruce Westphal.

Homan served in two different branches of the military and in two different wars. He served in the Air Force from 1964 to 1968 and joined the Iowa Army National Guard in 1978.

“I always felt pretty good about wearing the uniform,” Homan said. “I always said we were kind of a special breed who made that sacrifice to be away from our family. Especially after I got married, and in Desert Storm, we had a son who was a senior in high school and a daughter who was a sophomore in high school. My wife Carmen was raising these two high school-age kids as one parent.”

The Vietnam War was in full swing during Homan’s time in the Air Force, and he served one tour in Vietnam. He served in a somewhat rare role as a sentry dog handler, guarding the perimeter of the air base where he was stationed with a German shepherd at his side.

“The old hometown looks pretty good when you’re gone. I think when you’re here, you take things for granted. When you go to the service, it’s a whole different ballgame — especially back in the ’60s and ’70s, when they could do a lot more to you physically,” Homan said.

Homan trained or served with four different dogs during his Air Force days. He is aware of only one other Adair County native, who is now deceased, who was also a dog handler in Vietnam.

“Being a dog handler, I think, was one of the better jobs in the Air Force. Stateside, you were working with a dog, so your hours were completely different because you had to take the dog into consideration,” Homan said. “Once I got sent to Vietnam, it was a different story. I was a dog handler from dusk till dawn.

Homan said that there were plenty of threats from the enemy to come through the perimeter and that is when the dogs were on high alert.

“The dogs were there to sense the enemy, but if it got to desperation, you were supposed to turn your dog loose at any threat to you in the area,” Homan said. ”To this day, I’ve said I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for working with the dogs.”

In 1993, the Vietnam Dog Handlers Association was formed by six veteran war dog handlers who served in Vietnam. In beginning the group, they sought to never give up the search to reunite handlers and honor the memory of their war dog partners.

Homan has been able to reunite on occasion with other dog handlers from the war. At one of the first reunions he attended, there were 14 handlers present. That group is down to three today. Many of those deaths have been cancer-related because of Agent Orange, he said — a common consequence of service in that time and place.

As finance officer of Carlson American Legion Post 247, Homan, now 80, has experienced the same pattern of dwindling numbers. At one time, the local Legion had more than 140 members. Now, there are just 16. Those who remain stay active, serving as the color guard in parades and honoring veterans at their funerals, just as they will this Memorial Day.

“When you’re standing there looking at the flags, you get to thinking about your own service. It’s kind of emotional. I know there have been a few times where I’ve had to call out a name for a flag of someone I grew up with, went to high school with, was best friends with or someone who was a Vietnam vet,” Homan said. “There are times it catches you off guard. I think that’s what happens every time I find out one of my guys is gone too.”