Rob Nelson, Leslie J. Campbell American Legion Post commander, will speak at Memorial Day services in Highland Park Monday morning.
The annual recognition of veterans, alive and deceased, will start at 11 a.m. Iola and Moran American Legion members, Iola Municipal Band and Troop 55 Boy Scouts will be involved.
Nelson said he would speak about sacrifices men and women have made for the country, and how many have had to adjust to stresses of having served in war zones in recent years, an outcome to which Nelson can relate.
He served 2005-06 in a peace-keeping mission to Kosovo with a National Guard armored unit from Emporia. He was under active duty orders for 20 months.
“We did a lot of patrols and illegal weapon seizures,” Nelson recalled.
The experience stayed with him.
“It took me at least six months to adjust” to civilian life upon return, Nelson said. While deployed, “You think all is perfect here. You come back and it takes time to readjust. I think the older you are, the tougher it is.”
Nelson, 42, is a 1990 graduate of Iola High School and has farming and livestock operations in the area.
He joined the Army in 1991, and was stationed with the First Cavalry armored unit at Fort Hood, Texas. His regular Army service spanned five years. He then was in the National Guard until retiring from the 891st Engineer Battalion, with headquarters in Iola, in May 2007.
A factor in his decision to join the Army was growing up immediately after the Vietnam War and having had a deep respect for those who served, Nelson said.
Then, being at the age of those veterans, “had a lot to do with me joining,” he said.
