Wednesday several local veterans are celebrating a submarine that will now be named USS South Dakota.

The Rapid City Council along with Mayor Sam Kooiker were guests at a presentation by US Navy Veterans to recognize the last submarine of the Virginia Class that will carry the name the name USS South Dakota.

About 12 veterans took part in the presentation and even gave Mayor Kooiker a USS South Dakota hat.

In addition to celebrating the Secretary of Navy authorizing the name of the submarine after our state, Mayor Kooiker took the time to honor a WWII Veteran.

“It means a lot to our community and it means a lot to me to have so many veterans in our community,” says Mayor Kooiker.

The most exciting thing for these Navy Veterans is just the recognition of South Dakota.

“It just recognizes South Dakota- the battle ship South Dakota during WWII was the most decorated ship in the Navy and now we haven’t had a South Dakota for 50-60 years and now we got South Dakota again,” says U.S. Navy Veteran Don Hix.

This is 2 years in the making and many of the veterans can’t wait to be at the commissioning ceremony.

Source – News Center 1