Joe Foss

Kaptajn i Marinekorpset. Pilot på Wildcat fly med 26 nedskudte fly. Modtager af Medal of Honor.

• Guadalcanal, 1942-43

Brig. Gen. Joseph J. Foss, a WWII ace, former governor of South Dakota and founder of state's ANG. Joe Foss had successful careers in the military, political and business environments. Engaging in almost daily combat with the enemy from 9 October to 19 November 1942, Capt. Foss personally shot down 23 Japanese planes at Guadalcanal. He shot down a total of 26 enemy planes in 63 days to equal the World War I record of fellow Medal of Honor Recipient Eddie Rickenbacker. His remarkable flying skill, inspiring leadership, and indomitable fighting spirit were distinctive factors in the defense of strategic American positions on Guadalcanal. In 1954, Foss was overwhelmingly elected Governor of South Dakota and two years later was elected to a second term. After that, he was elected the first commissioner of the American Football League and served until 1966.

The Sioux Falls Regional Airport, also known as Joe Foss Field, is located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The airport serves southeast South Dakota, southwest Minnesota, and northwest Iowa with a well maintained airfield, modern and efficient passenger terminal, overnight cargo, complete general aviation services and a US Customs Port of Entry. The Sioux Falls Regional Airport has easy access from all directions off Interstates 90 and 29 and SD highway 38. The Sioux Falls Regional Airport Authority itself was created May 12, 1986 to operate the Sioux Falls Regional Airport. Before that time, the Airport was a department of the City of Sioux Falls.