Here’s a chance to both celebrate and solve a mystery.
The new Iola VA Clinic at 1408 East St. will celebrate its grand opening with a ribbon cutting and open house at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 13. Keynote speakers include U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, Veterans Administration Health Care System Director Rudy Klopfer and Iola Mayor Steven French. Veterans and families, as well as others in the community, are invited to attend the grand opening. VA officials encourage Purple Heart veterans and Gold Star Families to attend and be recognized.
The event will offer tours of the newly remodeled clinic along with resources and information about how to apply for benefits or file a claim, screenings for toxic exposure, and information about clinic services, including women’s health.
THE MYSTERY revolves around the American flag Mayor French is to present during the ceremony. The flag flew over the U.S.S. Arizona more than 30 years ago.
And although the flag includes certification of its authenticity, little is known about how it got from Pearl Harbor to Iola.
Former City Administrator Judy Brigham discovered the flag about a year ago amongst other memorabilia from her time with the city and couldn’t remember how it came to be in her possession. She returned it to current City Administrator Matt Rehder.
The flag is wrapped in plastic. A certificate verifies it once flew over the battleship, now resting at the bottom of Pearl Harbor, and that it was presented to the City of Iola.
The battleship sank during the attack on Dec. 7, 1941. A flag is flown from 8 a.m. to sunset each day from a flagpole mounted on the battleship’s mainmast, which is still visible above the water.
This particular flag was raised and lowered from the flagpole at 2:12 p.m. Aug. 27, 1991. The certificate was signed Sept. 11, 1991.
A copy of a newspaper, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, from Dec. 7, 1941, is included.
Today, similar flags can be purchased through the USS Arizona Memorial Museum Store or online at www.PacificHistoricParks.org.
Rehder said he hopes someone knows this particular flag’s backstory, hopefully in time for the presentation next Friday. If you have that information, call Rehder at City Hall, 620-365-4900.
