URBANDALE – The box John Pilmer unwraps contains five decades’ worth of memories.
Memories of Pilmer’s best friend Dwight, who passed away last fall.
“I used to have a Corvair and this was the same Corvair Dwight had,” Pilmer said referencing a model car he pulled from the box. “I had a ’65 Corvair the same time he had a ’65 Corvair.”
Both owners of Corvairs and both served during the Vietnam War; Pilmer in the Navy, and Dwight in the Air Force.
Dwight’s passing left at least one wishful memory just that: A wish.
“We had plans to go out to the Iowa,” Pilmer said.
“The Iowa” in this case, being the USS Iowa housed in San Pedro, California. The historic battleship whose service started at World War II and has hosted numerous U.S. presidents over the years.
Before Dwight died, his wife Jolene gave Pilmer a unique gift; one that set Pilmer’s path in motion for a trek out west.
A plate with a surprising inscription: “Terry Steam Turbine Company, Hartford, Connecticut”.
A Nevada, Iowa antique store purchase of an artificat originally found on the BB-61. The USS Iowa.
Pilmer still had to verify the gift’s authenticity.
Simon Conway, host of the Simon Conway Show on 1040 WHO, also serves on the USS Iowa Board of Trustees. Conway himself was taken aback by Pilmer’s now-prized possession.
“It was very obviously real to me,” Conway said. “That was the maker of the four engines on that ship.”
That was all the confirmation Pilmer needed.
A few weeks later, the sailor on a mission to bring back a piece of history was greeted with a hero’s welcome before embarking on a tour of the 887-foot long warship.
Pilmer wasted no time finding Dave Canfield, a veteran who served on the USS Iowa in the 1980’s and presented him with the plate.
“You know it’s similar to people who find medals and hunt down the families of the recipients of the medals,” Canfield said. “It’s just the right thing to do, and I’m incredibly grateful he chose to do that.”
The curator of the USS Iowa Museum, Dave Way, was equally impressed with Pilmer’s diligence.
“I’m already doing, we call it detective work. I’m a little confused about what exactly it was for, maybe for turbine blowers or forced draft,” Way said.
The plate is believed to have been a part of the engine room, but the finding the specific area the piece belongs is no easy task.
During the search, it becomes obvious a number of plates have been removed, likely taken as souvenirs by crew members when the ship was decommissioned.
But, not all is lost for the crew of the USS Iowa.
“The ship isn’t going anywhere and the engine room isn’t going to change so we will find where that goes,” Canfield said. “It’s just another piece of research we get to do.”
“I know they want to find the home for it and they will,” Pilmer said.
Even though his best friend is no longer here, Pilmer knows the journey to the USS Iowa wouldn’t have been possible without him.
“He definitely got me out here, and I feel like he’s with me and I know he’s looking down thinking how lucky I am to get to do this,” Pilmer said.