Members of USS Iowa crew visit IVH Wednesday
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Six members of the crew of the USS Iowa SSN-797, a Virginia-class submarine officially commissioned in 2025 and home ported in Groton, Conn., visited the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown on Wednesday morning to tour the facility, answer questions from residents and enjoy lunch in the cafeteria.
They were joined by Iowa Navy veterans Richard Kennelley of Marshalltown, Mike Neubauer of Woodward and Bob Kirby of Altoona for a group photo onstage inside the Malloy Leisure Resource Center (LRC) once the Q&A had concluded, and a member of the Australian Navy also joined them for the event.
Of course, because of the highly classified nature of submarine work in general, there were some questions that received a "no comment" or "I can't comment on that response," but the crew members did seem to agree that "Down Periscope," the 1996 comedy featuring Marshalltown's own Toby Huss in a supporting role, was their favorite movie about submarines.
Kirby, who is involved with the Submarine Veterans of Iowa group and served as a member of the Commissioning Committee for SSN-797, said submarine veterans have a special bond, and anytime he sees one wearing their ballcap at the grocery store, his wife knows they'll spend at least a half hour talking.
"The whole thing that keeps us together is these dolphins. You notice almost every one of the (hats) have dolphins, and that's the qualification to the submarine. And to a sub sailor, there's a statement. You're either qualified or you're not, and that means if you're not qualified for the submarine, they'll kick you off," he said.
Kirby served from 1961 to 1964, but because of the dolphins, he shares a bond with even the newest submarine veterans.
"The only thing about submarine sailors is we've been a lot of places (and) we didn't know we were there," he said.
Master Chief Scott Buzzard of Pittsburgh, Penn. and Chief Zachary Summers of Bellflower, Calif. were both visiting Iowa for the first time and had previously stopped by the VA Hospital and the Iowa State Fair on Tuesday. Buzzard has served for 16 years, while Summers, whose father and grandfather both served in the Navy, is coming up on 14 years.
"If you look at what a lot of these guys have done in the past, whether it's the Gulf War or Vietnam, they've done some crazy things, and I would say it's probably harder than what we're doing today. So giving back to them and talking to them and remembering the past (is important)," Buzzard said. "They always seem excited to see us, and we're excited to be here. But it's important for us on Iowa to keep coming back every year and do what we can."
Without saying too much, he added that the overall objective of submarines like the USS Iowa is to support the larger fleet however leadership determines they need to be deployed.
"Submarines are a different breed and a different kind of ship and have their own capabilities," Buzzard said. "Whatever we're told to do, we can do numerous different things, whether that's launch missiles, do some reconnaissance stuff, track other vessels, whatever."
"They call us the silent service, so whatever mission we get attached with, the goal is to go out and execute it without anybody knowing what's going on," Summers added.
Asked for their impressions of Iowa, the sailors described it as a beautiful state full of friendly and respectful people.
"I can tell that service to the country, to the community and family and veterans are important here in Iowa, and that's really cool to see," Buzzard said. "Driving around, you see a lot of new things, a lot of old things and it's just like 'This is definitely a place that I could raise a family.'"
The USS Iowa is sponsored by the state's former first lady, Christie Vilsack.
Contact Robert Maharry at (641) 753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.