Community gathers for expansion of Veterans Memorial Monument in Iona

IONA – The City of Iona unveiled an expansion to its Veterans Memorial Monument Saturday afternoon.

Community members gathered in front of the city building at 3548 North Main Street at 3 p.m. for a dedication ceremony. The American Legion was there along with the mayor and members of the City Council.

City Councilwoman Rylea Farrens tells EastIdahoNews.com she recently became aware there were a lot of veterans from Iona who weren’t listed on the monument and thought it would be appropriate to add them to the list.

“We did a Veterans Day activity two years ago and I went out here and realized we didn’t have enough space for the veterans who were on our Veterans Day list,” Farrens says. “We took it to the city council and talked about expanding and they thought that was a good idea.”

Thirty-three names were added to the new monument. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com

The expansion includes an additional monument with 33 names. Dixie Hunting, a member of the city’s historical society who passed away earlier this year, is responsible for the creation of the veterans monument about 20 years ago. Farrens says Hunting did a lot of fundraising and spearheaded a lot of community projects to memorialize residents who’ve served their country.

The original monument had three headstones with dozens of names listed.

The oldest name is Akillis Sellars, one of the people for whom Sellars Creek Ranch is named. He served in the Civil War.

The most recent names are casualties of the Iraq War.

Iona Mayor Daniel Gubler is one of the veterans listed on the monument. He lost his arm while serving in Iraq in 2005. Gubler explains he was on patrol with the Utah National Guard’s 2-222 Field Artillery Battalion at the time and stepped on an IED.

“It traumatically amputated my arm, so it was gone right from the blast of the shells. It also left me totally blind,” Gubler says. “I don’t know how I survived that, but I did.”

He spent a year and a half at Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland recovering and had multiple surgeries on his eyes after returning home.

“It was a long, arduous, lonely process of recovery,” Gubler recalls.

He and his wife, who is from Iona, had moved to town just before his deployment.

With his military service cut short, Gubler still had a desire to serve his country and that led him to run for mayor. He is now in the third year of his second term.

With a city population of about 2,500 people, Gubler says it’s amazing how many people from the community have served in the military. He’s grateful to those who have made an effort to honor their service.

“We respect our veterans a lot here in Iona,” he says.

A caption on the face of the Veterans Memorial Monument in Iona. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com

Farrens also expresses gratitude for the sacrifices of these men and says the monument is a much-needed reminder in today’s “tumultuous times” that freedom isn’t free.

“It’s an incredible way to show veterans that their service mattered,” says Farrens. “It doesn’t matter how long they served, or if they had an accident or were harmed — we’re just grateful that they were willing to protect our country at all costs.”