Ibberson, Ellendale Vietnam Veteran

Jerry Ibberson, 72, is a Vietnam veteran. A native and resident of Sleepy Eye for his first 48 years–aside from his stint in the Army from 1972 to 1975–he currently resides in Ellendale with his wife Karen. Ibberson has two children, Paul, 40, who lives in St. Louis working for Channel Seeds and his daughter Jackie, 42, who is married to a minister and lives in Aurora, Colorado.

 

Ibberson’s military training included US Army Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, Fort Devens in Massachusetts, and Vint Hill Farms Station in Virginia. Vint Hill Farms was closed down in 1997. He served a lot of his time in the Army on the Japanese island of Okinawa. This island, which houses military bases, is only 66 miles long and 11 miles wide. It’s located 900 miles south of the main island of Japan and is used by all four branches of the United States Military. Ibberson says he worked in communications and electronics which were used to support troop movements. Although he signed up for a four-year term, he was given an early out when the Vietnam War ended April 30, 1975.

 

Retired for the past 14 years, he likes to joke that he’s now a “full-time volunteer.” His last paying job was at Lowe’s, where he worked for five years. Ibberson is currently the Emergency Management Director for Ellendale. He’s also an instructor for the Steele County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). He likes to be prepared for emergency situations and search and rescue. Emergency management isn’t just storms, said Ibberson; “We live in Minnesota. We don’t just have tornadoes. When the highway gets shut down during a blizzard, Ellendale is right next to I-35 and that would mean a lot of people don’t have anywhere else to go.” He then added that there isn’t really a “shelter,” but there are three churches in town. He helps get those ready as a space to keep people safe. He teaches a gun safety course, and one of his hobbies is to help people whose cars get “stuck” during the winter months. He observes that, for someone stuck in the snow, seeing someone approach and get out of their vehicle to help can be a godsend. He also teaches a gun safety class.

 

Ibberson maintains the Veteran’s Memorial in Ellendale, and is a member of the honor guard. Although not an officer in the legion, he has helped get the Ellendale American Legion Post 296 close to the number one spot in Minnesota when the organization’s new member monthly sign-up totals surpassed every other legion in the state. He spoke fondly of Larry Otto, who was the president of the Ellendale Legion up until his death in 2022. “Larry was a jack of all trades. He held everything together while the legion was in transition. He also did all of the accounting back then too.”

 

Ibberson doesn’t like how the Army has been lowering the standards for today’s soldiers. “The training standards and things like that aren’t getting these guys ready to fight a war. Some of the specialty units are keeping them sharpened, but the guys in standard infantry are not being well prepared. The specialty units still have very high standards, so it’s not all lost yet.” Ibberson also wanted to point out that, “When you sign up for the Army and go into boot camp, you leave being an individual behind. No questions, just do your job. You need to be sharpened to serve; it’s the mental toughness they are lacking.”