Iowa Life Episode 305

Nebbe: Coming up on this Veterans Day episode of "Iowa Life," we'll meet Colonel Gerry Berry, the Marine pilot who flew the last mission out of Vietnam... Berry: I flew in.

It was just a little after 1:00 in the afternoon, and I'm kind of pumped up 'cause I'm supposed to get the ambassador, you know?

So you're thinking, "Well, this is kind of a privilege in its own way."

Nebbe: ...we'll head to Connecticut for the commissioning of the USS Iowa submarine... Officers and crew of the USS Iowa, board our boat and bring her to life.

Nebbe: ...and meet the Tri-State Women Warriors, who are building connection and support for women who have served.

To have an organization whose primary mission is to kind of organize and empower female veterans, it just adds that extra layer.

It's all coming up next on "Iowa Life."

Narrator: Funding for "Iowa Life" is provided by the Lainie Grimm Fund for Inclusive Programming at the Iowa PBS Foundation and by Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation.

Hi.

I'm Charity Nebbe, and this is "Iowa Life."

Veterans Day is a day we set aside to remember the men and women who have stepped forward to serve our country in times of war and in times of peace.

Their contributions have shaped our history, our communities, and our understanding of what it means to serve a cause greater than ourselves.

First up, Colonel Gerry Berry, a Marine helicopter pilot from Iowa, shares his remembrance of his final mission in Vietnam, a mission that marked the end of America's involvement in that long and difficult war.

And I know that a lot of Vietnam veterans probably saw similar things, but it changes you, makes you a different person.

I'm always proud of those days that I served with the marines.

Nebbe: This is Colonel Gerry Berry, United States Marine Corps, retired.

Berry, who calls Iowa home, is a former combat helicopter pilot.

His current mission is to tell the story of his service in Vietnam during a turbulent time in our nation's history.

The Vietnam veteran will always be, in my mind, the best America had.

Nebbe: Nearly 50 years before giving this speech in May of 2025, Berry was part of a different mission, one that ended U.S.

involvement in Vietnam.

It was April of 1975, and hostile forces were about to surround South Vietnam's capital.

Berry was flying along with 70 other helicopters that had been sent to bring out as many people as possible.

His specific orders were to pick up U.S.

Ambassador Graham Martin and take him to a ship waiting offshore.

Berry: I flew in.

It was just a little after 1:00 in the afternoon on 29 April, and I'm kind of pumped up 'cause I'm supposed to get the ambassador, you know?

So you're thinking, "Well, this is a kind of a privilege in its own way," so I feel good about it.

Nebbe: Berry had flown in the skies over Vietnam on his first tour six years before.

Part of his job was to put combat troops onto the battlefield.

In December of 1969, while commanding a flight of two CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters and two HueyCobra gunships, he came to the rescue of an eight-man reconnaissance team that had come under heavy fire.

What amazes me is I'm the oldest guy there, 24 years old.

Do you realize how young we all were?

But that's the way it was everywhere.

You never thought about it then.

I always think because of the -- you had these loyal people who went and served when others were burning their draft cards, going to Canada, so my heart's always out to the Vietnam veteran, not just because I was there, but because a lot of them weren't treated well when they came back, and all these anti-war demonstrations that went on, the Kent State thing in '70, so your compassion is with Vietnam veterans.

Nebbe: In 1973, the Paris Peace Accords were signed.

U.S.

military forces left the country.

Almost immediately, the communist North Vietnamese government violated the peace treaty.

In 1975, North Vietnamese forces began a military push to the south.

By April 29th, elements of the People's Army of Vietnam were converging on South Vietnam's capital of Saigon.

The evacuation protocol, known as Operation Frequent Wind, was put into effect.

Berry was dispatched to pick up Ambassador Martin and take him to the USS Blue Ridge.

This is Berry's helicopter, call sign Lady Ace 09, landing in the U.S.

embassy's parking lot.

Berry: We land.

The crowd's everywhere, but nobody's getting on the helicopter.

We got the back ramp down.

So, finally, I called the Marine security guard over and I said, "This is Lady Ace 09.

We're here to get the ambassador and his staff."

He says, "Fine."

He runs into the building, comes back, says, "The ambassador's not ready to go."

In a way, I kind of understood that.

I'm thinking, "Well, he's probably got other things he's got to get done here," not really thinking that much about it.

So they said, "We're going to load you up with evacuees.

Take them out to the ship."

"Fine."

So we did.

Nebbe: What had begun as a straightforward mission to bring out Ambassador Martin became an 18-hour ordeal that found Berry shuttling people to safety.

As Berry was returning to the embassy in the early morning hours of April 30th, he could see North Vietnamese tanks approaching the capital city.

Berry: Well, who's in charge?

Who is going to make this thing end?

And that's when I was flying back in.

I'd probably have never been so angry.

You can't imagine flying all day and seeing absolutely no progress.

The people are still the same.

The grounds have still got the same number of people because he's letting everybody in.

As soon as we'd take loads out, he'd replace them.

So you're never going to finish.

Nebbe: After landing on the roof of the embassy, another group of refugees was loaded onto Lady Ace 09.

And I'm just pondering, and I thought, "Get them all off.

We can't do this anymore.

It's over."

And that's when I told -- the guy came over.

I mean, the Marine security guard came over and I said, "Go tell the ambassador.

Lady Ace 09 is not leaving the roof till he's on board.

Then I decided to throw in, "The president sends."

Bang.

He goes down.

The ambassador's up in no time.

I mean, looks like he was ready to go.

He needed the order to get out.

Gets on and fly out.

Nebbe: All of the refugees were taken off the helicopter.

Ambassador Martin, along with his staff and the embassy's flag came aboard and they lifted off.

But the fateful instructions that sounded like an order from the president didn't come from the White House.

Berry had taken it upon himself to issue the order.

None.

I have no authority to do that.

Nebbe: After dropping off the ambassador, Berry helped evacuate the embassy's Marine guard, and the mission was over.

In the end, more than 7,000 people were airlifted to safety in the largest military-helicopter evacuation in U.S.

history.

So we got the ambassador.

I make the call, "Tiger, tiger, tiger," which signifies that the ambassador is out.

But I'm thinking.

The ambassador was going down with his ship.

He just wanted to be ordered out.

And I thought, "I could have done this maybe seven or eight hours ago and saved myself a lot of grief."

Nebbe: Berry, who now lives in Florida, returns to Iowa several times a year.

Occasionally, he gives speeches about his Vietnam experience, all for free.

During his visit in May of 2025, he spoke at the Vietnam remembrance ceremony on the Iowa Capitol grounds, interacting with dignitaries and veterans alike.

You're looking good.

He also spent time telling his story at the Iowa Gold Star Museum.

The embassy grounds are just as full of refugees as they were when we started at 1:00 in the afternoon, the ambassador's still here, and I can see the tanks coming down the road.

They're only about four or five miles from the city.

Nebbe: Berry finished his speaking circuit at the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown.

So they did crank up another one.

We flew back, got the marines.

We were joined by... When I talk, it helps me not worry about the Vietnam experiences that I had or not think about them.

I think we've moved on and we're accomplishing something.

We're just talking about something that happened in the past.

So, yeah, in its own way, it's therapeutic somehow to talk about it.

Next, we're traveling to Connecticut for a very special occasion -- the commissioning of the USS Iowa.

Not surprisingly, Iowans have a strong connection to the submarine that bears our state's name, and many Iowa dignitaries attended the ceremony.

While we were there, we also got a behind-the-scenes look at Sub School to learn how sailors prepare for the challenges of life and duty at sea.

Man: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

It is my distinct honor and privilege to welcome you to Submarine Base, New London, and the commissioning of USS Iowa.

[ Applause ] The crew of USS Iowa salute you.

We are proud to serve in America's Navy.

Iowa, ready, two.

Nebbe: In April 2025, the USS Iowa (SSN-797) officially became the newest submarine to join the U.S.

Navy's 71-sub fleet.

This state-of the-art Virginia-class submarine is the fourth vessel to be commissioned with the name Iowa.

Her story is split between those who worked for years to see the name Iowa back in the water, and the new sailors working aboard her today.

Before those crew members climbed down into their sub, they all start their sailing journey at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut.

Known as the "Submarine Capital of the World," New London is home to the Navy's Submarine School, or Sub School, a required eight-week course to assess if a sailor is capable of the rigors of submarine living.

Moore: The submarine community, everybody getting into it has to have a little bit of dedication and acceptance of what they don't know.

It's not easy.

In the end, it's unlike anything you've ever gotten to experience.

You know, you might be sharing a room, nine to more people.

You live at work, but cool part about being in submarines, though, is I have yet to meet anybody that didn't love it.

Sutherland: So the state I'm from is Iowa.

After college, I was, like, not really sure what to do.

My dad was in the Navy.

My brother's currently in the Navy, so I was like, "Hey, why not?

Let's join the Navy."

Why submarines?

I like the idea that there's less people.

I don't want to be on a ship with 5,000 people.

I want to be on a submarine with, you know, 100 of the people that I trust.

Nebbe: Before seamen step foot on a submarine, Sub School starts with a few weeks of intense classroom work on the life-saving skills they'll need to know.

We've had to do the history and basics about submarines, you know, how the -- all the -- all the systems operate and what kind of weapons and propulsions and all that good stuff, so that when we get out there, we can fix it.

Nebbe: Once seamen make it through sub classes, hands-on learning starts.

The two most dangerous elements submariners can encounter are water and fire.

Managing those emergencies is known as damage control, or D.C.

Moore: So damage control is -- in simple terminology, it's something bad has happened, and it's not like you can just get out of the submarine and go to another one.

Fire!

Fire in the engine room!

Learning to be a firefighter on a submarine is going to be a life-or-death occupation, because we don't have the luxury of having separate D.C.

control men to handle all D.C.

cases on board.

Everybody on board is going to be a D.C.

man.

It's a lot to learn because a lot of these students have never held these extinguishing agents.

Everybody has to learn how to approach that and how to fight that fear.

Nebbe: Next to fire, water is the biggest concern on a sub.

Not only is a submarine surrounded by water, but if a sub starts taking on water, her crew needs to know how to stop the leak or risk catastrophe.

Moore: So our classroom portion is very hands-on, so we teach them a lot of the tools, and then we take those exact same tools and we put them in the training environment.

Nebbe: Fire may seem more dangerous than water leaks, but if submariners don't act fast, too much water could sink a sub.

Just like a real rupture, the water trainer does not go easy on seamen.

They have minutes to assess and patch leaks gushing at more than 1,000-pounds per second.

So the students that come into it, they originally see it, and it's kind of shocking.

They've never seen anything like that before.

But they get the training and then you put them in it and they're successful and, in all honesty, damage control wet training's probably one of the favorites.

Nebbe: With fire and water behind them, seamen finally learn what to do when all else fails.

Moore: So this is our aquatic training facility.

This is for pressurized submarine escape training.

It's a 40-foot tower of water.

If we're utilizing this, the submarines had a very bad day.

They're disabled, they're never going to return to the surface, So hopefully this training that we provide will never have to be utilized by the students.

Nebbe: To date, no actively deployed submarine has ever had to use the escape hatch.

However, with few exceptions, every seaman who has come through New London has experienced this trainer.

Moore: We teach them all about the suits and some of the pieces, parts, and components of the suit.

On day two, we bring them into pressurized training, where we pressurize them using the exact same components on a submarine.

That will equalize with the tank, and they will float up to the surface.

Nebbe: After eight weeks of Sub School, in front of gathered friends and family from across the country, seamen graduate.

While still months, possibly years from stepping foot on a submarine, the next step in their path is specialization.

Sutherland: I just graduated BESS -- Basic Enlisted Submarine School.

I'm about to head to my "A" school, which is ITS "A" school, essentially just computers and submarines.

I don't have orders yet, but I'm hoping to get on the USS Iowa.

Nebbe: The state of Iowa has shepherded thousands of young soldiers like Seaman Sutherland to the Navy.

In fact, veterans from Iowa have been championing the new Iowa sub for more than a decade.

Kirby: We have three different submarine groups in the state of Iowa, actually four.

Then when they named the Iowa, we wanted to get more involved, so we formed the Submarine Veterans of Iowa.

And then, as it progressed, the commissioning committee was started.

But just to see these people, all the people from Iowa that are non-military, that have supported them, it's -- it's touching.

Nebbe: In the days leading up to the commissioning, supporters of the Iowa were given private tours of the new sub.

The experience offered veterans a chance to reconnect with their service.

Kostlan: It's like, once you're a submariner, you're always a submariner, and I was excited about the idea of being able to go on the submarine and see what submarines look like today versus when I was on in the '70s, and it's so different.

Way different.

Nebbe: Finally, on Saturday, April 5th, the commissioning of USS Iowa was held.

Amidst blustery winds and frigid rain, speeches were given and long-standing naval traditions were performed.

First District of Iowa Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks was in attendance to give her remarks.

before ship sponsor and former First Lady of Iowa Christie Vilsack gave the ceremonial call for crew to man the sub.

Officers and crew of the USS Iowa, board our boat and bring her to life.

All: Aye-aye, ma'am!

Nebbe: Naval commissioning ceremonies follow a regular set of events.

However, the ship's sponsor is allowed to select the celebratory theme.

For the Iowa, the former First Lady of the state chose an Iowa State Fair theme, meaning the State Fair Board decked the pier out in state-fair signage and provided free Campbell's corn dogs and pork chops on a stick, Iowa delicacies fitting for a brand-new submarine named after the state.

It's the last one.

-How is it?

-Good.

It's good.

Nebbe: While held on the East Coast, the commissioning of the USS Iowa submarine is a piece of the state of Iowa's history, with the sub as backdrop, veterans and active seamen from Iowa in attendance, federal representatives present, the Iowa State Fair supporting the whole event, and Governor Kim Reynolds giving the keynote address, the day was a celebration of all things Iowa.

Reynolds: After nearly eight years as governor, some occasions stand out as special reminders of the great privilege it is to serve.

Today's ceremony is certainly one of those occasions, and, in fact, it may very well top the list.

For Iowans, today's commissioning will spark memories of our state's numerous connections to the USS naval history.

This history matters to Iowans.

The countless crew members living and dead who wrote that history matter to us.

And that's why so many from our state, including many veterans, have made the 1,200-mile journey here to Groton, Connecticut, to honor the much-loved name of USS Iowa.

May God bless the new USS Iowa and all who built her, may God bless her crew and give success to her mission, and may God bless Iowa and the United States of America.

God bless you.

[ Applause ] Throughout our nation's history, women have served with courage and dedication in uniform and often against the odds.

Next, we meet the Tri-State Women Warriors, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting and advocating for women veterans and service members.

Schauer: The Tri-State Women Warriors is a nonprofit based in the tri-state area of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin with a mission to provide connection and advocacy for the unique needs of women, veterans and service members.

I want your help.

We're all going to learn how to do this together.

Schauer: Today's event, we are doing mocktails and charcuterie.

There are a lot of different organizations that support veterans in this area.

To have an organization whose primary mission is to kind of organize and empower female veterans, it just adds that extra layer.

Schauer: When I really thought about the veteran groups in our area, they are -- they're incredible.

They do incredible things, but they are mostly men and often a different generation than I am.

I can't expect a man 30 years older than me to know, like, "Oh, I bet this, you know, 30-year-old woman here wants to do yoga [chuckles] or would like to, you know, have a planting day."

I am a veteran.

I served in the Army Reserves.

During that time, I was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, as a combat medic.

I will openly say I struggled at first.

For a long time, even after that service, when I would look back on it, I would feel ashamed of how scared I was those first couple of months.

I usually start with grapes, and I place them just different places and then I... Schauer: It did impact me.

I didn't realize how much it impacted me until, like, now looking back on it.

[ Laughter ] Feeling invisible, not really feeling like a veteran, not really feeling like you have a place where you belong within the veteran community.

It's just hard to transition from the military to civilian life, and I kind of just isolated myself.

I served in both the Army and the Air Force, trained as a combat medic.

Schauer: There's a high rate of suicide in men and women veterans.

The gap between civilian and veteran is even wider for women.

Also, like, military sexual trauma plays into that a lot, which is something that we see in a lot of women veterans.

There are only about 800 women veterans in our tri-state area, and so the fact that now not only do I know, you know, hundreds of them, but now I know women who served at the same time I did in Iraq, which it might not sound like much, but to have that person that's had that same experience.

When you're in the military, it's not just a job.

It's also, like, part of your identity.

I was the psychologist for a group of about 3,500 soldiers.

We had a really active area of operations, in the time that I was deployed and in the area that I was in, so we did have some pretty heavy combat, and I was responsible for then meeting with groups of soldiers after they would go through something like that.

Veterans have a wide range of experiences, but they all were part of this close-knit community, kind of a brotherhood and a sisterhood.

And so leaving that can be, like, a real shock to the system.

[ Chuckles ] And so just kind of realizing that, I think, one of the things a lot of veterans struggle with is finding their purpose.

Gilstrap: Makes you feel whole again.

That piece that's missing when you leave the service, you are missing connection, camaraderie, all of that, your sense of purpose, sense of self.

You kind of try to figure it out.

And these ladies know exactly what you've been through.

Schauer: I'm hoping that because of us being out there in the community and -- and the visibility of our girls, That picture, that image that they have in their head of a veteran has changed.

So they're not surprised to learn somebody like me or any of these other girls are veterans.

And I'm just so thankful.

Like, I took myself out of isolation.

Now I'm back in the community and doing a ton of things and feel like myself.

Woman: Yeah.

[ Indistinct conversations ] Our final stop takes us to Iowa's Gold Star Military Museum in Johnston, where veterans' stories are shared and preserved for future generations.

Vogt: Camp Dodge dates back to April of 1909, named for Major General Grenville Dodge of Council Bluffs.

Museum has been here for 40 years this last June.

We tell the story of Iowa veterans, Iowa units, Iowa's military past within the larger context of U.S.

and world military history.

Typically for families, you can usually find somebody that's served in the military.

That's a commonality of the American experience.

And so objects are memory triggers.

Veterans come in, and so oftentimes they'll, "I carried one of those when I was in basic training," or, "Those are just like the boots that I wore in Vietnam."

Being able to elicit those stories from visitors based on what we've put on exhibit oftentimes results in a very educational experience for me and others.

Courtier: As everybody should know, Camp Dodge is the Army National Guard.

I was not in the Army.

I was in the Air Force.

I was a medic years ago.

And the Gold Star Museum.

And what does that mean?

At the very front, we've got six pictures of individuals who have given the ultimate sacrifice.

They're all Iowans, and they've all -- they're all Iowans that have been in different conflicts throughout the years.

It's a great history lesson to just walk through and take your time and look at everything that's on display here, 'cause it's been all very carefully put together.

Vogt: One of the museum's prized possessions is a Civil War Medal of Honor that was donated by the family of Edward James Bebb.

Bebb served in the Civil War in the 4th Iowa Cavalry, fought at the Battle of Columbus, Georgia, in April of 1865, and we have a 100% complete Civil War Medal of Honor that was awarded to private Bebb.

Iowa plays a major role in the Civil War, serving mostly in the western theater.

One of the most costly battles that Iowans ever fought in was the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, in April of 1862.

More Iowans were lost, killed, captured, reported missing than any other -- any other battle in the state's history.

So we have a diorama here showing Iowans of the 7th Iowa Volunteer Infantry defending an area known as the Sunken Road.

Courtier: I think I love the fact that a lot of people didn't know that this was up here, and it's been rewarding to have people, when they leave, tell you, "Oh, this is really well done."

One of the things that's really fun to let the kids know about -- there is, around the corner over here, a mock-up of a conning tower.

That's -- That's something you would actually see on a -- you know, a submarine.

And in that tower, yes, there's a fully functional periscope.

It goes right through the roof, and they can walk in 360 degrees and see what's going on outside.

So it's a lot of fun to let dads and moms know about that, and the kids' eyes just light up.

Vogt: The exhibits that they like are the submarine control room.

They enjoy entering the armored personnel carrier.

It looks like a tank.

It's not a tank.

It's an armored personnel carrier.

But to them, it has tracks, and it looks like a tank, so they climb in there.

And the World War I trench is a favorite just because of the -- the light and sound experience that we deliver.

But we have an F-16 cockpit simulator.

When they visit, we can put them in the cockpit.

They can roar down the runway, fly in the air, shoot the guns, fire some missiles, learn some aerobatics.

In the early 1920s, Japanese scientists discovered the jet stream, so they devised a method of constructing balloons with an intricate system of barometers to maintain the altitude.

They had to travel 5,500 miles across the Pacific.

They would be over the continental United States, and then the last four, five fuses would drop four incendiary bombs and one demolition bomb.

They were, for all intents and purposes, the first intercontinental weapons.

They manufactured about 10,000.

Atmospheric conditions contributed to three of them coming down in northwest Iowa one at Laurens, one near Holstein, and one near Pocahontas.

Most people that walk in here say, "I have never heard of this story," but a few of them came down.

One came down intact.

The ones that were found in Iowa, they were debris.

Museum work is a field where you're always learning.

We've had volunteers that have served for years and will come to me and say, "How long has that been on exhibit?"

"About four or five years."

So there's a lot to see here, a lot to experience, and so, yeah, if you're interested in military history, pay us a visit.

We can help you out.

That's it for this week.

Thank you for joining me as we honor the service and sacrifice of America's veterans and remember their courage, compassion, and commitment.

I'm Charity Nebbe.

See you next time for more "Iowa Life."

Narrator: Funding for "Iowa Life" is provided by the Lainie Grimm Fund for Inclusive Programming at the Iowa PBS Foundation, and by Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation.