Dedicating the U.S.S. Iowa bell

The sun came out just in time early Monday afternoon as a brisk breeze unfurled the many flags at Lucas County Veterans Memorial Park where a crowd of 150 or so had gathered to dedicate a cast bronze replica of the U.S.S. Iowa's ship bell, the latest addition to the park.

The bell, commissioned by the Veterans Memorial Park Commission and its chairman, Earl Comstock, with a substantial boost from the Vredenburg Foundation, was manufactured by The Verdin Co. of Cincinnati and had been on display in the courthouse until late last week, when it was moved to the park and placed in its frame.

Retired U.S. Navy Senior Petty Officer Gerald Dyer, of Corydon --- one of the region's senior U.S. Navy veterans --- was on hand to sound the bell for the first time, escorted by Ava Krutsinger, a Van Allen School fifth-grader.

Guests were greeted at the park gates by Lucas County Scouts and ceremonial aspects of the program were carried out by members of the Russell and Chariton American Legion posts as well as a U.S. Navy Reserve color guard, based in Des Moines. Comstock led the program and the Rev. Fred Steinbach, of St. Andrew's Church, offered the invocation and benediction. Tony Irvin was soloist.

Guest speaker for the day was Rear Admiral Linnea J. Sommer-Weddington, deputy director, command control, communications and computer systems and information technology, U.S. Strategic Command, headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha.

The U.S.S. Iowa, commissioned on Feb. 22, 1943, is the fourth in a succession named for the state. Now decommissioned, it is permanently berthed at the Port of Los Angeles as the U.S.S. Iowa Museum.