JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 A PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Commissioner Philip Taldo HIS FIRST YEAR ON THE HIGHWAY COMMISSION NEW LIFE for an Delta Rhythm & ArDOT’s Iconic Bridge Bayous HIGHWAY MARATHON MEN DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE ARKANSAS STATE HIGHWAY FRONT AND BACK COVER: The War Eagle Bridge on COMMISSION County Road 98 in Benton County Packing ARDOT’s Parachute T’S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT 2018 IS HERE ALREADY. PUBLISHER DICK TRAMMEL The holiday season — from Thanksgiving through New Year’s — Danny Straessle Chairman I
[email protected] is always a good time to reflect on the past and look forward to EDITOR things to come. In both looking back and looking forward, I’m reminded David Nilles of a story that I read some time ago. I relayed this story a few years
[email protected] back at our annual service and safety awards events. It has such a good message, though, that I thought this would be a good opportunity to GRAPHIC DESIGNER Paula Cigainero Charles Plumb was a US Navy jetbring pilot itin upVietnam. again. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and
[email protected] spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and went on to lecture on THOMAS B. SCHUECK lessons learned from that experience. PHOTOGRAPHER Vice Chairman Rusty Hubbard One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man came up and said, “You're
[email protected] Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk.