Connect with us

Nebraska

World War II-era boat found in California lake on its way to Nebraska

Published

on

World War II-era boat found in California lake on its way to Nebraska


This holiday weekend, history returns to the Cornhusker State.

Just in time for the Fourth of July, an artifact more than 80 years old is making its way to Nebraska: a Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) boat, or the “Higgins Boat,” — a 36-feet-long, military craft used during World War II.

The historic relic, arriving in Seward on Sunday, will be parked in front of the Nebraska National Guard Museum on July 4 and dedicated in a ceremony at 9 a.m.

On July 5, it will travel to Columbus, the birthplace of American businessman and boatbuilder Andrew Jackson Higgins — the designer and namesake of the boat — and be parked in front of his national memorial before returning to the museum.

Advertisement





Andrew Higgins’ wooden boat factory in New Orleans produced thousands of boats for the Allied efforts in World War II. One of those boats is headed to the Nebraska National Guard Museum in Seward.

Advertisement




The boat, one of only 16 left in the world, was discovered 18 months ago at the bottom of Lake Shasta, a reservoir in Northern California.

People are also reading…

Advertisement

How it ended up there, remains a mystery.

“There’s many stories about how it got there,” said Gerald Meyer, historian at the Nebraska National Guard Museum.

With the marking PA31-17 on its stern, the boat was assigned to the USS Monrovia, a flagship used during the invasion of Sicily, which also was Gen. George S. Patton’s flagship during the war.

Advertisement

At its highest, production of the boats peaked at more than 20,000 during the 1940s and 1950s — a record, according to the Andrew Jackson Higgins National Memorial.

They became so popular that Dwight Eisenhower, then supreme commander of the Allies, praised Higgins, calling him “the man who won the war for us.”







103. Andrew Higgins

103. Andrew Higgins

Advertisement

1886-1952

Manufacturer

Higgins, who grew up in Columbus and Omaha, has been credited as “the man who won the war for us” for his invention and manufacturing of “Higgins boats,” the ramp-bowed landing craft used by American forces during World War II.


With a speed of up to 12 knots, the wooden-made boats were used in landings at Normandy, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima and many other World War II battles, and were able to land a platoon of 36 men.

Advertisement

But they were not supposed to survive the war, Meyer said, and when it ended, they were sold for surplus.

“Our ships that came from the Pacific (Ocean) were built in Oregon, California and Washington,” he said. “They would take off all the Higgins Boats and all the stuff they could sell for surplus, and they sold them to people for $400, $500.”

Subsequently, they were used for all sorts of purposes.

“At Lake Shasta, they would use them to transport material … to haul cattle, they used them to haul trash out, they used them for everything,” Meyer said.

In total, 23,000 Higgins Boats were manufactured during the war — which means other companies built them too. Still, the one found at the lake has a distinctive trait linking it to Higgins.

Advertisement

“Higgins was the only one during the war who built landing craft with a rounded stern,” Meyer said. “It’s his trademark.”

Dr. Van and Becky Cattle Vahle spearheaded the campaign and contributed money, along with the Cattle Bank in Seward, to bring the boat back to Nebraska.

Becky Cattle Vahle’s father, Maj. John Cattle, rode a Higgins Boat to the shores of North Africa, Sicily and Normandy during World War II. Their donations were in honor of Cattle, Higgins and the greatest generation of World War II.

“There’s not hardly any money outside of them that’s been invested in this boat — they took this thing completely,” Meyer said.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7326 or dmartirosov@journalstar.com.

Advertisement

On Twitter @dmrtrsv



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Nebraska

Nebraskans want and support strong public schools • Nebraska Examiner

Published

on

Nebraskans want and support strong public schools • Nebraska Examiner


In Nebraska, we have a constitutional obligation to provide education for our children in the common (public) schools. It is an obligation we take very seriously. 

And in that obligation, we recognize that we need to provide a variety of learning environments for our students and that parents should have a say in determining that environment. That is why, for more than 30 years, Nebraska’s option enrollment program has enabled tens of thousands of students to choose the public school that best fits their needs, even if that school is not the one right down the street. 

In fact, in my home community of Omaha, in Millard, roughly one in four students choose to attend a public school that is not their neighborhood school.

Proponents of measures that would divert public resources to private schools often claim that public school advocates do not believe in choice. Nothing could be further from the truth. We believe that if a school is funded through public dollars, it should be publicly accountable and should follow the most important belief we hold: that we have the privilege of educating all students who come through our doors. 

Advertisement

During the debate on the first version of the “Opportunity Scholarships” voucher bill, an amendment was proposed to ensure that was the case. The amendment simply required that any private school receiving a publicly funded scholarship would be prohibited from discriminating against students based on elements like race, religion, sexual orientation or disability. 

Supporters of the voucher bill rejected that amendment.   

We strongly believe that education policies should meet the needs of all students. Voucher supporters do not agree. Across the river, in Iowa, we are watching in real time as that state’s school voucher program becomes a massive subsidy for the wealthy. 

Only 12% of the applicants to Iowa’s program had previously attended a public school.  The average income of a family applying for a voucher to move from a public school to a private school in Iowa is more than $128,000.  Perhaps most concerning is the fact that since Iowa passed its voucher program, private school tuition has increased by 25%.

Nebraska needs to heed the warnings from other states. The research has been comprehensive and clear: Large-scale voucher programs do not improve academic outcomes. In fact, in a comprehensive report that was done by Indiana University, after reviewing more than a dozen studies, the report concluded that, “As programs grew in size, the results turned negative, often to a remarkably large degree virtually unrivaled in education research.” 

Advertisement

These programs not only fail to improve academic outcomes, they also drain a disproportionate number of resources away from our public schools. The Nebraska Legislative Fiscal Office noted that the voucher programs proposed would not reduce public school expenses. 

In fact, depending on who takes these vouchers, the proposed programs could result in a loss of millions of dollars of state aid to public schools. Sadly, that isn’t a hypothetical. In Arizona, its voucher program has ballooned to nearly $1 billion in its cost to taxpayers — while the Isaac Public School District does not even have enough money to pay its staff.

Importantly, the people of Nebraska saw the failings in these other states and reinforced their commitment to a school system that welcomes all students, regardless of their background. In November, hundreds of thousands of Nebraskans voted to support their public schools and to reject vouchers for the fourth time in our state’s history. 

The result was consistent across the state, with a majority in 82 of Nebraska’s 93 counties voting to repeal the voucher bill. Our lawmakers in the Legislature should respect the will of the people and acknowledge that Nebraskans do not support using public funds to pay for private schools.

While the evidence may be clear that a voucher program will not improve the educational outcomes in Nebraska, that does not mean we are content with the current state of education. We believe we need to and can improve on how we serve our students in our public schools. 

Advertisement

Yet research, as well as our fundamental belief in public education, leads us to know that voucher schemes are not the solution. We have proposed several measures in this Legislative session that would help address our state’s ongoing teacher retention challenges. 

We are also supporting measures like Sen. Margo Juarez’s Legislative Bill 161, which would increase funding for public preschool. States that have demonstrated the greatest progress in improving math and reading outcomes for students are those that have committed to expanding preschool access. 

We want every child in our state to have the best possible learning environment. The evidence is clear that vouchers are not the answer. The answer is strengthening our Nebraska public schools.

Tim Royers, a public school educator and Nebraska’s 2016 Teacher of the Year, is president of the Nebraska State Education Association. He taught in the Millard Public Schools.

Advertisement

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Nebraska

Busboom Kelly gets major pay bump as Nebraska volleyball head coach

Published

on

Busboom Kelly gets major pay bump as Nebraska volleyball head coach


LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – New Nebraska volleyball head coach Dani Busboom Kelly has signed a six-year, $4.575 million contract with the Huskers, set to begin Friday.

According to documents released by Nebraska Athletics, Busboom Kelly will earn a base salary of $700,000 in her first year, with annual increases of $25,000. By the final year of her contract, which runs through Jan. 31, 2031, she will make $825,000.

According to documents released by Nebraska Athletics, Dani Busboom Kelly will earn a base salary of $700,000 in her first year, with annual increases of $25,000. By the final year of her contract, which runs through Jan. 31, 2031, she will make $825,000.(Nebraska Athletics)

Her contract includes performance bonuses, including $50,000 if Nebraska wins the Big Ten Conference Championship and $100,000 if she is named AVCA National Coach of the Year.

She would also receive a $50,000 bonus for reaching the NCAA volleyball tournament’s Final Four and $100,000 for winning the national title.

Advertisement

Another clause of the contract states that if the Huskers make it to the Final Four in any given year, the contract will be extended another year, with the same $25,000 base salary increase.

At Louisville, Busboom Kelly’s base salary was $400,000 through 2028.

Busboom Kelly will succeed her former coach and mentor, John Cook, who announced his retirement on Wednesday after 25 seasons as Nebraska’s head volleyball coach.

Cook was earning $825,000 before retiring, having signed a contract extension in May 2024.

Busboom Kelly will be formally introduced as the Huskers’ head coach on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The welcome event will be open to the public with an introductory press conference to follow.

Advertisement

Click here to subscribe to our 10/11 NOW daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.



Source link

Continue Reading

Nebraska

Parents deserve the right to choose what’s best for their children • Nebraska Examiner

Published

on

Parents deserve the right to choose what’s best for their children • Nebraska Examiner


Every parent wants their child to succeed. That looks different for every student — whether it’s academic excellence, social growth or emotional well-being. But ultimately it’s about helping each child reach their full potential. When a child struggles in school — whether academically, socially or emotionally — parents deserve real solutions to help them thrive.

This week is National School Choice Week, and it’s a reminder of the importance of empowering parents to choose the school that best meets their child’s unique needs. Public, private or parochial — every student deserves a chance to succeed in an environment that works for them. 

During my time in the Legislature, I worked with my colleagues, Gov. Pete Ricketts, and later Gov. Jim Pillen to champion education reform that supported kids, parents, teachers, and taxpayers.

Education matters

We mandated a focus on reading in early grades and testing for learning disabilities so conditions like dyslexia are diagnosed and addressed at an early age. We invested in teacher recruitment, retention and loan forgiveness programs. And we provided a record 38% increase in state funding for public schools, the largest increase in four decades.  

Advertisement

This funding included a minimum of $1,500 per student in foundation aid that provided state funding to more than 180 rural school districts that otherwise weren’t receiving state K-12 equalization aid. We also increased how much the state would cover of special education costs from 42% to 80%, doubling the state’s commitment to children with special needs.  

Despite relentless opposition from the teachers union, a bipartisan majority of the Legislature passed school choice bills in 2023 and 2024. With the adoption of the Opportunity Scholarships Act tax credit program two years ago, Nebraska became the 49th state to approve a school choice bill. Last year the Legislature replaced that program with an education scholarship program funded with a $10 million state appropriation.

Through these two scholarship programs, more than 4,000 students from across the state were given access to the best educational fit for them.  These scholarships are making a life-changing difference for families in Norfolk, Seward, Beatrice, Omaha, Nebraska City, Ogallala, South Sioux City, David City, Grand Island, Lincoln and dozens more communities across the state. For many families, this is the first time they’ve been able to choose an educational path that meets their children’s needs. 

Tragically for these families, special interests led by unions spent more than $7 million misrepresenting these programs, which resulted in their repeal in November. There is a disturbing irony in the election results.  Former teachers union president Jenni Benson gave a TV interview in which she stated their repeal efforts wouldn’t take scholarships from kids. The union’s paid advertising stated the scholarship programs took money from public schools. And petition circulators said the program benefitted the rich when the program prioritized low-income families. Regardless of the barrage of false claims, several communities, who want and need better educational options voted not to repeal Opportunity Scholarships.  

These communities stretch across Nebraska, from the economically depressed urban areas of Omaha to Scotts Bluff County and communities as diverse as Lexington and Norfolk. 

Advertisement

Growing elsewhere

Meanwhile school choice is advancing across the country with new and expanded programs proposed in Texas, North Dakota, Tennessee, South Dakota, Virginia and elsewhere.  

Across the Missouri River, Iowa’s education savings account (ESA) program will be accessible to all families regardless of income beginning this fall. Nebraska families deserve the same opportunities. 

Supporters of school choice in Nebraska won’t relent because the future of our kids is too important to walk away from. This year Nebraska lawmakers will consider several proposals to empower parents to choose the school that’s the best fit for their child, including an Iowa-style ESA, vouchers, and tax credit scholarships, among others.  

With more than 4,000 Nebraska students receiving scholarships in the current school year, a new program will be needed to keep those students from losing their newfound opportunity. I simply cannot believe Nebraskans are in favor of disrupting the education of 4,000 children who finally found the right school.

We must stand together for these children and protect their scholarships. This is common sense, and it should not be controversial. As Governor Jim Pillen said in his State of the State address, “Every child deserves a chance to succeed.”  

Advertisement

Lou Ann Linehan served as chair of the Nebraska Legislature’s Revenue Committee for six years before being term-limited after 2024.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending