“We call it vision. That’s the most important quality of Joe Foss.”
That was how Governor George Mickelson described former South Dakota Governor Joe Foss on September 18, 1991, during the dedication of a bronze bust at Rapid City Regional Airport.
Foss served as South Dakota’s 20th governor from 1955 to 1959. Before that, he was a Marine Corps pilot in World War II, where he received the Medal of Honor and became the first American to equal Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker’s World War I record of 26 downed enemy aircraft.
His aviation work did not stop after the war. Foss helped organize the South Dakota Air National Guard in 1946 and stayed active in aviation and military organizations for decades. He later served as president of the American Fighter Aces Association, chairman of the U.S. Air Force Academy board, president of the U.S. Air Force Association, and chairman of the U.S. Air National Guard Association.
He helped organize the Crippled Children’s Hospital and School in Sioux Falls, served as a state legislator, became vice president of Raven Industries, was the first commissioner of the American Football League, hosted ABC-TV’s “American Sportsman,” and worked as director of public affairs for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
The bust itself had a Black Hills connection. It was presented by Ruth Ziolkowski of Crazy Horse Memorial. Her late husband, Korczak Ziolkowski, sculpted the original bust of Foss in 1963 and 1964. Korczak is best known as the creator of Crazy Horse Memorial.
September 18, 2026 marks 35 years since the bust was unveiled at RAP. It remains a reminder of a life that moved through aviation, government, sports, and service.
