Wow! What and awesome and busy day here at Sioux City on Doreen's birthday! We started off heading to the Sergeant Floyd Museum, which is located in a dry-docked river boat, the MV Sgt Floyd, next to the Missouri River. It is also the home of the Iowa Welcome Center as you enter Iowa from South Dakota on I-29. Inside the boat is a museum that depicts native American culture, fur trapping, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the steam boat era and other exhibits. A few pictures:
More about Sgt Floyd tomorrow when we visit his memorial.
Next we walked to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.
The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center is co-located with the Betty Strong Encounter Center. We were amazed by the beautiful scenes depicted therein. These are learning centers and when we arrived there were dozens of children from local day cares learning about the Lewis and Clark Expedition which came right through here.
Then we drove to the United Flight 232 Memorial.
This is a tribute to the response that occurred here on July 19, 1989 when a United Airlines aircraft flying from Denver to Chicago had issues and crashed here while attempting an emergency landing at the Sioux Gateway Airport. 112 personnel died but 184 survived due to the heroic efforts of the flight crew and emergency responders on the ground.
A short drive from there was the Siouxland Freedom Park.
The Freedom Park features "the ONLY exact half-scale replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. “The Wall” as it’s dubbed, is made from the same granite from India as the wall in D.C. It features the names of 58,272 fallen service members from the Vietnam War." The Wall is 250-feet wide and 130 of the names on the wall are soldiers from the Siouxland area.
I've been there before but it has changed a great deal, including the addition of the Brigadier General Bud and Doris Day Interpretive Center building (was not open yet), and a Freedom Rock.
The park also features a dog park, walking trails, lighting, and a 30×60 foot American flag, flown at 150 feet high.
This evening we drove a short distance to the Oscar Carl Vineyard and met with Brad and Val Rose who are friends from the Iowa Air National Guard here in Sioux City. I first met Val when she was Master Sergeant Val Rose serving as First Sergeant with the 185th Air Refueling Wing of the Iowa Air National Guard. Her husband Brad also serves there with the Security Forces. As Wing Command Chief in Des Moines I had the opportunity to work along side the 185th Wing Command Chief Dave Miller as he guided and mentored his First Sergeants. Later as State Command Chief I had even more opportunity to visit the 185th and help them in any way I could. One of those opportunities was when I was asked to meet with both Val and Brad to give them some suggestions on how they could further develop their leadership skills and advance in their military careers. Since then they have both continued to grow and excel and we are so fortunate to be able to stay in touch with them. Doreen and I were so excited to have been invited to Val's Chief Master Sergeant promotion ceremony which of course we attended! So Chief Master Sergeant Val Rose is now serving as the Mission Support Group Superintendent here at Sioux City. We are very proud of them both.
At the Oscar Carl Vineyard, we shared some local wine, charcuterie, some great conversation and pizza! Brad and Val presented Doreen with some beautiful birthday flowers and delicious cupcakes from a local bakery!
We are so lucky that our paths crossed with these two wonderful Airmen years ago and that we have been able to stay in touch. They are the epitome of the "citizen soldier", serving the citizens of Sioux City and Woodbury County during the week, and serving our Nation as traditional guardsmen. We are thankful of the opportunity today to reconnect with them!
Tomorrow we plan to visit the Sioux City Public Museum, Sioux City Police Department, the Sgt Floyd Monument, possibly the Midamerican Museum of Aviation and Transportation at the airport.
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