ONAWA, Iowa — Randy Lee, a soldier who grew up in Soldier, Iowa, enjoys the challenge of directing his “troops” at American Coating & Welding, a small business he founded in Onawa in 2015.
“Something like one out of every seven veterans starts their own business,” said Lee, who served with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan in 2010-11.
“We were deployed for duty overseas on my birthday, Oct. 28, 2010,” said Lee, 35. “We came home on my next birthday.”
Lee, who served in an engineering company, helped construct buildings throughout Afghanistan during his tour of duty. The unit, he said, averaged constructing one facility every four days. “We re-did buildings after bombings,” he said. “We faced mortar fire. It wasn’t secure at all.”
Still, Lee said there were other soldiers and members of the Special Operations forces, for example, who served in more dire conditions.
Unfortunately, the company Lee had worked for prior to his deployment closed while he was in Afghanistan. Lee returned home and learned he had no job to which he could return.
“I was unemployed until I used the GI Bill to pay for my training to become a deputy,” said Lee, a 2000 graduate of Boyer Valley High School and later a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
