“ A part of Ottumwa ’ s history was being torn down to the ground . I looked at this and decided something needed to be done ”
- Stephen Black , pilot and Ottumwa native
the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission in 1962 ; Jesse Leroy Brown , the Navy ’ s first Black pilot ; Walt Cunningham , a Navy veteran and Apollo 7 astronaut ; and Bob Steuber , a professional football player who played for the Chicago Bears , Cleveland Browns , Los Angeles Dons and Buffalo Bills .
“ Every Tom , Dick and Harry who served there [ NAS Ottumwa ] were just as important as my uncle and a number of celebrities that went through there ,” Peshek says .
Preserving NAS Ottumwa
Like Peshek notes , the men who trained and served their country at NAS Ottumwa in different capacities were , and still are , important . And Black recognizes this too .
An Ottumwa native , computer science professional and lifelong pilot , Black returned to his roots from the east coast for a friend ’ s funeral in 2010 . While there , he noticed old , dilapidated NAS Ottumwa station buildings at the Ottumwa Airport were being torn down . That didn ’ t sit well with him .
“ A part of Ottumwa ’ s history was being torn down to the ground . I looked at this and decided something needed to be done ,” Black says .
Black , the late Mike Gretz of Montezuma and the late Dave Falkenhagen of Sandusky , Ohio , teamed together to preserve NAS Ottumwa ’ s rich history to honor the hard work , commitment and sacrifices of the servicemen who were stationed there .
In 2011 , the trio formed Friends of NAS Ottumwa , a local nonprofit organization with a mission to restore the original administration building into a Naval Aviation and Space Museum . But it has been no easy task .
The first time Black stepped foot in the old administrative building since flight training ended in 1947 , the windows were covered with plywood . There was a giant hole in the roof where water was leaking in .
We Are Ottumwa 19