Editor's note: The video above first aired on Dec. 8, 2019.
Legislation drawn up by Minnesota's U.S. Senate delegation would honor the memory of three National Guardsmen who died while testing a helicopter in 2019.
Chief Warrant Officer James A. Rogers Jr., Chief Warrant Officer Charles P. Nord and Warrant Officer Kort Plantenberg were up in a Blackhawk helicopter on Dec, 5, 2019, testing it following some mechanical work when the aircraft went down approximately 16 miles from St. Cloud.
None of the men survived.
The three men were members of Company C, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion and had just returned from a deployment to the Middle East just months before the crash.
In December, Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) introduced bipartisan legislation to rename the Avon Post Office in honor of Plantenberg; the Perham Post Office after Nord; and the Winsted Post Office in honor of Rogers Jr. The locations correspond with the guardsmen's hometowns.
Companion legislation was introduced in the House by Representatives Tom Emmer (R-MN) and Michelle Fischbach (R-MN).
A letter drawn up by Klobuchar and Smith was also signed by Representatives Angie Craig (D-MN), Dean Phillips (D-MN), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Tom Emmer (R-MN), Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), Pete Stauber (R-MN), and the late Representative Jim Hagedorn (R-MN). That letter urges members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the House Oversight and Reform Committee to take action on the renaming plan.
“These National Guardsmen made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the safety and security of our nation," reads the letter. "We are grateful for their sacrifice and believe that renaming these post offices in their honor would be a fitting tribute to their legacy.”
In the letter, Minnesota's delegation asks committee leaders to take action on the bills as soon as possible.
The full text of the letter signed by Minnesota's U.S. lawmakers can be found below.
Dear Chairman Peters, Chairwoman Maloney, Ranking Member Johnson, and Ranking Member Comer:
We respectfully ask that the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform take action on three bills we recently introduced to rename United States Postal Service facilities in our state after three National Guardsmen who were tragically killed in a helicopter crash in 2019.
The three bills (S.3321, S.3320, and S.3319; and H.R.6218, H.R.6221, and H.R.6220) would designate the facilities of the United States Postal Service located in Avon, Minnesota as the “W.O.C. Kort Miller Plantenberg Post Office,” in Perham, Minnesota as the “Charles P. Nord Post Office,” and in Winsted, Minnesota as the “James A. Rogers Jr. Post Office.”
In December 2021, we introduced these bills in the Senate and the House of Representatives and we respectfully ask that the Committees take action on them as soon as possible.
W.O.C. Plantenberg, C.W.O. Nord, and C.W.O. Rogers were all killed in a tragic Black Hawk helicopter crash approximately 16 miles from St. Cloud, Minnesota. These National Guardsmen made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the safety and security of our nation. We are grateful for their sacrifice and believe that renaming these post offices in their honor would be a fitting tribute to their legacy.
Thank you for your consideration of our request.
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