After introductions were made, the colors were presented by the VFW Honor Guard and “The Star Spangled Banner” was sung, Tupper took center stage and discussed the flag as a symbol of unity and opportunity, recounting his grandfather’s service in WWII and his reverence for Old Glory.

“We live in America. That’s our symbol, the American flag. This honorable symbol has been shot at, burned, spit upon and stomped on,” Tupper said. “And yet, she rises again. Let us all, as Americans, hold the respect that is due not only to our flag, our symbol of freedom, but to all those who have given their time defending her.”

He closed with a quote from President Theodore Roosevelt: “This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we all make it a good place for all of us to live in.” He urged those in the audience to look at the flag as a reminder of unity when attempts are made to divide the population.

IVH Commandant Todd Jacobus also offered a few brief remarks on what the flag means to him and how hard it is to see people mistreat and abuse it.

Londyn Senethavysouk, one of the two winners of the Marshalltown Elks Lodge’s “What the Flag Means to Me” essay contest, read her essay near the end of Wednesday’s Flag Day ceremony at the Iowa Veterans Home. The other winner, Gavin Accola, is pictured sitting at back left.

“This flag is more than a piece of cloth. This flag represents us as an American people, and like the Chief said about being an American, about everything that all of you served for in defense of our country, that’s what this flag stands for,” he said.

Jacobus and his two sons have all flown the same flag across the world during their military deployments, and he pledged that he and the veterans in the room with him would do “whatever we can” to support and defend the flag now and forever.

Attendees were then invited to pray before Cheryl Jost-Kelley provided some history of the flag — including how it was first conceived by Betsy Ross back in the 18th century and how seeing it inspired Francis Scott Key to write the national anthem. Larry Kelley of the Elks Lodge later remarked on how the flag has endured — and how the men and women of the military have fought to protect it — through armed conflicts from the Revolutionary War to the modern War on Terror.

The two local winners of the “What the Flag Means to Me” essay contest — Marshalltown students Londyn Senethavysouk and Gavin Accola — read their essays for the audience, with both sharing unique perspectives. Senethavysouk spoke of what the flag means to refugees, as her Laotian father was displaced by the Vietnam War and ultimately settled in the U.S.

“War refugees leave their home to escape the violence and travel in unsafe conditions to America, the land of the free… for a new life that provides stability with jobs, safety, education and endless opportunity,” Senethavysouk said.

 Those in attendance at Wednesday’s Flag Day ceremony at the Malloy LRC on the IVH campus showed their respect for Old Glory.

Accola shared some history of how the U.S. came to be and the creation of the flag along with a new country after the historic victory in the Revolutionary War.

“That flag is probably the most well known flag in the world. The reason I say that is because we’ve seen so much of this flag flying in the wind, and so many people have glared and glanced at this flag and are filled with pride,” he said. “That pride stems from the fact that our people fought as hard as they can for us to still see this flag.”

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

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.