At 11:20 p.m. on Dec. 17, 1943, a telegram came across the wire for Zona G. Stewart. It read: “The secretary of war desires me to express his deep regret that your husband Captain Edward Stewart was killed in action in defense of his country…”

Stewart, father of two and a former Iowa State College student, was 33 years old.

On Tuesday, 60 years after his death, Stewart, along with Robert Lee Leathers and Earle Aaron Hanselman Jr., both Vietnam War-era soldiers, will be honored on the walls of Gold Star Hall with the 527 former students and/or graduates of Iowa State who died for their country during war. The ceremony, which coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Memorial Union, will be held at 4 p.m. in Gold Star Hall and the Campanile Room.

Matt Husby, who was a senior in exercise and sport science last spring but is not currently enrolled at Iowa State, appealed to have Stewart’s name included with the World War II soldiers. Stewart is his grandfather.

“What actually initiated my appeal was I was sitting by the fountain [outside the MU] eating lunch, and a campus tour came by talking about Gold Star Hall,” Husby said. “It occurred to me that I had never looked to see if my grandfather’s name was on the wall.”

When Husby found that Stewart’s name was not listed, he gathered documents to submit to the executive director of the MU. He provided his grandfather’s grades at Iowa State, the telegram telling his grandmother her husband had died and other documents his grandmother received after Stewart’s death.

Kathy Svec, marketing coordinator for the MU, said as much information as possible about the individual is needed to consider a soldier for Gold Star Hall.

“Stewart’s information was ideal,” Svec said.

Stewart entered Iowa State in the fall of 1930.

“I believe he originally was in chemistry but switched to agricultural engineering when it looked like he would have to take over the family farm,” Husby said.

While in college, Stewart was involved in Reserve Officer Training Corps, Boy Scouts and was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He left Iowa State to pursue his military career.

Husby said he knows little else about his grandfather. The topic was discussed very little because it was not a happy subject, and his mother was only seven years old when Stewart, her father, died.

“Grandma remarried and continued on,” Husby said. “It was sad and tragic and had a definite impact on her life, but she had a family to raise. She lived to build a future, not dwell on the past.”

Stewart died in Italy when an enemy shell struck him. He was a forward spotter with the artillery unit during World War II. He died Nov. 29, 1943, one day before his wife’s birthday.

Stewart was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Purple Heart after his death.

Husby said having Stewart’s name added to Gold Star Hall is a mix of being happy and proud.

“He was a great man and there isn’t a day that goes by since I received the letter that he would be added that I haven’t thought, ‘Man, I should try harder,’ like I am not living up to what people expect of me,” he said.

A matter of honor

Earle Aaron Hanselman Jr., a Navy lieutenant, was killed in a helicopter crash in the Mediterranean Sea Aug. 14, 1965, according to reports in the Algona Upper Des Moines newspaper. Hanselman was 22 years old.

Hanselman studied aerospace engineering at Iowa State, the college where his parents and his two brothers, and later his niece and nephew, attended.

Renee Hanselman, sophomore in health and human performance and Earle’s niece, said her family is very proud to have his name added to Gold Star Hall.

“I was really honored that someone in my family was going to be dedicated and privileged that I am part of the family,” she said. “I am honored just to have a blood relative [on the wall]. He was part of my family’s life and they knew him.”

Her uncle, named after his father, has always been called “Butch.”

“I didn’t know his name for the longest time,” Renee said.

Her grandfather would talk about her uncle when questioned, but because she never knew him, Renee said she didn’t know what to ask.

“My grandpa always said how Butch fought for his country and he died for his country,” she said. “To put it on the wall for everyone to see what he did is a big honor.”

Her grandparents are really excited and are planning to come to the ceremony, Renee said.

Jim Olberding, 2143 Ashmore Dr., asked for Earle’s name to be added to Gold Star Hall. “Earle was a really friendly, nice guy … well-mannered,” said Olberding, who was one of Earle’s Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity brothers.

Hanselman was involved in cross country and Navy ROTC. He attended Iowa State for two years.

Despite requesting Hanselman’s name be added to Gold Star Hall, Olberding, a Vietnam veteran, does not believe Earle deserves to be on the wall.

“The criteria, I’m convinced, was set up all wrong,” he said. “The individual who set it up did it all wrong.”

Svec said there are four criteria for inclusion in the Vietnam-era list — known alumni killed in Vietnam, known alumni reported missing in action during the Vietnam conflict, alumni killed during the Vietnam conflict as a result of the conflict, but not in Vietnam, and alumni killed during Vietnam conflict while stationed in other sectors of the world.

“The Vietnam criteria were a way of defining and refining the ways names were added,” Svec said. “I don’t think there was any different criteria than for any other war.”

Under such criteria, Olberding feels Hanselman should be included on the wall. “Earle’s name doesn’t belong up there, but with this erroneous criteria, he belongs there,” he said.

There are 15 or 16 people in the Vietnam category who did not die in battle, he said.

“The tragedy is the [university] won’t correct it,” Olberding said.By putting these individuals on the wall with soldiers who died in war, it is being totally unfair to the families, he said.

A dedicated family man

Had it not been for a classmate of Robert Lee Leathers’, his name would not have been added to Gold Star Hall.

Jenna Leathers Foster, Leathers’ older sister, heard from a student of hers that Leathers’ name was brought up during his class reunion.

“There was a reunion two years ago and Robert’s classmate spoke up and said, ‘Where is Robert Leathers’ name on the wall?” Leathers Foster said.

Deciding her brother was just as eligible for the memorial as any other ISU graduate, Leathers Foster sent information about her brother to Mary Jo Mertens, former executive director of the MU, requesting his name be added.

Leathers Foster said she never knew about Gold Star Hall in the past. She graduated from Iowa State in 1946, when only World War I casualties were inscribed on the walls.

No names have been added to Gold Star Hall since 1984, when the Vietnam and Korea memorials were established, Svec said. The World War II names were moved from their original location to Gold Star Hall the same year.

“I didn’t realize this sort of thing took place,” Leathers Foster said. “I didn’t know about Gold Star Hall, therefore I didn’t know Robert was eligible.”

Leathers graduated from Iowa State in 1952 with a degree in industrial education. He was also involved in the Marine ROTC.

Eight years after he graduated, on Nov. 18, 1960, Leathers died when the fighter plane he was flying crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Okinawa, Japan.

The main fighting during the Vietnam conflict occurred between 1964 and 1975. The Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. originally looked at deaths occurring after Jan. 1, 1961 for inclusion on the wall. Exceptions were made for two men who died in Vietnam in 1959.

Leathers Foster learned of her brother’s death from her parents over the telephone.

“[It was] terrible, just absolutely devastating,” she said.

Having Leathers’ name put on the wall is like “the end of the story.”

“I just feel like it is a form of closure for me,” she said. “I wish very much that my parents could be there.”

The ceremony will include color guard and representatives from each branch of the military service, Svec said. Each soldier will be introduced by the commander who represents their branch of the service, she said.

After a short service in the Campanile Room, which MU Executive Director Richard Reynolds will emcee, the family and audience will proceed to Gold Star Hall, where the draperies covering the names will be removed.

A trumpet player will stand in the balcony and play “Taps” into Gold Star Hall.

“[The trumpet] should have a really touching effect,” Svec said.