Week of September 2nd, 2020 Update
IOWA Family: We are entering the last week of what in past years would be considered our busy season. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we would have hosted two significant event this coming week. We would have celebrated the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII during...
Battleship IOWA Tours: You Never Know Who You’ll Meet
Battleship IOWA is full of inspiring surprises. When our tour guides arrive to the ship every morning, they never know who they'll encounter during the day. And while each guest is special, every so often, one stands out. IOWA volunteer Christ Malburg had such an...
Operation Crush COVID Week 5: History
Before we jump into this week's topic, a quick note: we've hit a milestone. Today marks the start of Operation Crush COVID's Week 5. That means we're almost halfway through this campaign! As of the writing of this email, we had raised a little over $11,000. That's a...
Update for 08/23/2020
IOWA Family: I begin this week’s message with thoughts going out towards the firefighters that are fighting the devastating wildfires throughout the State of California. We are truly blessed to have proud Americans willing to put their lives on the line every day to...
Operation Crush COVID Week 4: Education
When students come aboard Battleship IOWA, they enter a different world. Many of them experience both a ship and the ocean for the first time. Most discover real world applications for STEAM* concepts they'd never imagined. From our Day of Discovery program and its...
Update for 08/16/2020
IOWA Family: My sincere appreciation to our entire crew for remembering Jerry Bayless today with a brief service and flag raising. It is moments like this which remind us how precious life is and how grateful we are to come together as Americans to preserve the iconic...
So Good, We Had To Bring You More
When we published our blog about volunteers on Wednesday, we held back a bit. Volunteer Coordinator Sue Schmidt has been with the ship since IOWA was liberated from the "ghost fleet" and spruced up in Richmond, before moving to her final home in LA. The perspective...
Operation Crush COVID Week 3: One Ship, One Crew
Come aboard Battleship IOWA and you're likely to hear that phrase. It's our credo, the core of our culture. We say it, we live it. What does it mean? It means we don't care if you're volunteer or paid staff, a tour guide or a member of the ops team - whatever your...
08/09/2020 Update
IOWA Family: We are approaching the end of the 2020 summer season. Usually during this time of year, we are in full swing of planning LA Fleet Week in front of the ship. This year’s Fleet Week has been postponed, but the team of partners is working on a virtual Fleet...
Meet USS IOWA WWII Veteran Pete Bigler III
One of the most amazing things about being around Battleship IOWA is the stories you hear that you never expect. We opened a message in our Facebook inbox and discovered an absolute gem. Meet Machinist First Class Peter Alford Bigler III (1922-1975). He served...