LAHARPE — Since March 1946, the LaHarpe VFW and its Auxiliary have honored, remembered and supported the veterans of Allen County.
Among those who have dedicated themselves to that mission is Maggie Barnett, who has spent years and energy making sure the sacrifice made by veterans isn’t soon forgotten.
Born and raised in Gas, Barnett’s ties to Allen County run deep. She is the oldest of seven siblings and has three children, 10 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
On any given day, Barnett can typically be at the LaHarpe VFW Willis Ross post, helping prepare for veteran ceremonies. Thursday morning was no different. The 78-year-old was doing a balancing act, standing carefully on a chair, hanging decorations for Veterans Day.
“My kids and grandkids all kind of laugh and say, ‘What are you doing now, Mom or Grandma?’” she said with a grin. Barnett added her enthusiastic energy to the post when she joined the Auxiliary in 2012, encouraged by current president and sister Pat Spencer. “I joined under my dad,” she explained. “He was a World War II Navy veteran.”
For Barnett, honoring veterans is personal. Her family’s military history stretches back generations. Her grandfather fought in the Spanish-American War, and another served in World War I. “My uncles, they all joined and were in the Navy too,” she said.
Barnett said many of her classmates started joining the armed services upon graduating high school in 1965. “Vietnam was a big thing, you know, for a good 10 to 15 years,” she said.
Growing up during the Vietnam era, Barnett saw firsthand how returning service members were often mistreated.
This mistreatment helped motivate her lifelong mission to honor them. “When they came back, everybody just ignored them,” she said. “They treated them terribly. I just felt like if they’re serving for us and helping us keep our freedom, that’s a horrible thing for us to be doing to them.”
That belief continues to drive her work today. “Freedom is not free,” Barnett said. “We need to give veterans big applause for serving to keep us free.”
THROUGH THE LaHarpe VFW Auxiliary, Barnett helps lead countless efforts to honor veterans throughout the year. “The main thing is Memorial Day and then also Veterans Day,” she explained. On these holidays, Barnett and the Auxiliary members place flags on all of the veterans’ graves in five area cemeteries. “We’re talking about 1,800 flags,” she said. “And that’s twice a year. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it.”
She’s even made it a community effort, involving students from Allen Community College to help place flags. “The last two years, I was able to get the baseball and softball teams from the college to come and help me at Highland Cemetery,” she said. “The first year, I had about 50. This year, I think we are going to be close to that again.”
Barnett also helps organize a “Wreaths Across America” ceremony each December, ensuring local veterans are remembered during the holidays. The ceremony honors veterans by placing wreaths on their graves, on typically the second or third Saturday in December.
“We started that two years ago,” she said. “We have the community help us with the wreaths.” Barnett says it was her idea to opt for artificial wreaths instead of the live balsam variety that are usually used in the ceremony. “That way we just have to replace the bows and they’ll last a couple of years,” she said.
This year’s wreath-laying will take place at 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 14, at Highland Cemetery in Iola. Barnett added that they will accept all of the help they can get with the wreath-laying.
BEYOND ceremonies, Barnett said that the Auxiliary provides hands-on support to veterans in need. This comes in the form of meals when they are hungry or help with their yards.
