Fort Rucker, AL – 25 OCT 2010

Fort Rucker is 2 hours from Montgomery, snuggled in next to three small towns: Daleville, Ozark and Enterprise. This is the drive, after entering the Main Gate: Because it is the primary flight training base for the Army Aviation, it has flying machines of all types on display:This one looks like a giant dragon fly. Find Tinky Winky?
Yes, over the right wheel:Their Aviation Museum has the largest helicopter collection in the world. I like this life size winged man, hanging over the entrance:


Don't tell TW this plane isn't going anywhere.

TW takes control:
Cool emblem...love to get a T-shirt of this one:
They had a room dedicated to the fallen pilots of the Vietnam War:
And of course they also had their own piece of the Berlin Wall:
Tinky Winky makes new friends...next time I let him dress in camouflage.
At the start of each class, I have an 'ice-breaker'...asking the students an interesting fact about their home town (telling them, I'm from the Halloween Capitol of the World: Anoka, Minnesota). There is usually a few people who were born, raised and lived their entire life in the small town near the fort. When pressed, they will come up with something interesting for me to check out, such as a prairie dog village, a wildlife sanctuary, a great rib joint or the oldest local cafe. This time I was told about the Boll Weevil Statue. That afternoon, after class, I had to find it: It was in the middle of the street and the stop light never turned to "Walk" so at some point I just went into the middle of the intersection to get my picture.
Why would anyone erect a statue to a boll weevil? Because around the turn of the century, the boll weevil wiped out 60% of the cotton crop, their main source of income, which forced the local farmers to expand into peanuts and other crops. Within two years, Coffee County became the nations leading peanut growers, with a crop that would stave off future economic disasters. In appreciation they erected the world's only monument to an agricultural pest.
Just as Atlanta has everything 'peach', this place has streets and shops named for their hero:

There was one other statue in town. With the following inscription: DEDICATED TO OUR MEN OF ARMY AVIATION, WHOSE GALLANTRY AND DEVOTION TO DUTY INSURE AMERICA'S FREEDOM. DAFFODIL GARDEN CLUB PROJECT 1970-1972.