Big Horn County News September 22, 2005
Members of the USS Enterprise Association pause for a picture during a tour at the Custer Battlefield Museum at Garryowen.
Custer Battlefield Museum plays host to USS Enterprise Comrades
| Members of the USS
Enterprise Association, meeting in Billings last week for their annual
convention, traveled to Garryowen to taken in the Custer Battlefield
Museum. The Meeting in Billings was the 21st for the association, whose members enjoyed various events and excursions to nearby sites of interest. One of the best-attended trips was to the museum. Museum Director Chris Kortlander welcomed 65 association members, and provided them with a personal tour of the battlefield. |
"The Custer
Battlefield Museum has one of the best displays of historical war
memorabilia I've ever seen, "Lt. Shane Dietrich, one of six active
service men to attend the annual meeting said. "Garryowen and
the museum are unique attractions for the state of Montana." Dietrich just completed a November to June duty tour in Iraq, and said it was there that he saw a notice about the reunion and "thought it would be a neat thing to go on." |
While Dietrich was in Iraq he was responsible
for the distribution of $3.2 billion worth of material to help create the
new Iraqi police force, highway patrol, border forces and special commando
units. During his tour, he participated in numerous logistic convoys
throughout Iraq, which helped coordinate efforts with the Ministry of
Interior to to ensure proper distribution and accountability. Association members are former or current shipmates of the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, |
the USS Enterprise, "The Big E." The
purpose of the organization is to perpetuate the memory of the ship and
its crew, and to promote and maintain the spirit of camaraderie among
shipmates. Association members hold annual reunions, attempt to locate former shipmates, and collect memorabilia relating in any way to the USS Enterprise CVAN/CVN 65. Additionally, the association awards an annual college scholarship to past and present Enterprise shipmates and their families. |