CHICAGO (AP) — A suburban Chicago post office has been named in honor of an original member of the famed all-black Tuskegee Airmen who flew scores of missions in World War II. Gabrielle Martin told the Daily Southtown on Wednesday during a ceremony for Robert Martin at Olympia Fields Village Hall that her father would have been surprised by “all the fuss.”

“Dad was really kind of a humble man,” Gabrielle Martin said. Robert Martin was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Purple Heart. U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, who introduced legislation in February to name the post office for Martin, called him “an American hero.” Martin’s children then attended the unveiling of a plaque in their father’s honor at the post office. He lived in Olympia Fields from 2008 until his death at age 99 in July 2018.

Martin was born in Dubuque, Iowa, on Feb. 9, 1919. Before the war, Martin earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He was a captain when he was discharged from the Army in 1945. He then worked as an electrical engineer in Chicago until retiring in 1988. Martin was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen — a black aviator group who served in an era when African American military personnel trained and lived in segregated facilities.

President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration made flight instruction available at select black colleges under the Civilian Pilot Training Program, and an air base was created and devoted to training black pilots near the renowned Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, founded by the pioneering black educator Booker T. Washington.

Martin received his wings in 1944 and was commissioned a second lieutenant, then flew with a squadron based in Italy. On his 64th mission, Martin was shot down by enemy gunfire near Zagreb, Yugoslavia, in March 1945. He spent a month behind enemy lines with partisans in a secret Yugoslavian camp before the Allied advance allowed him to return to his base in Italy.

Despite the challenges he faced as a black man in the U.S. and the Army when “Jim Crow was alive and well,” Gabrielle Martin said her father told his family he “had to take a stand” against Nazi atrocities, and “felt it was his duty to serve his country.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two free forums have been scheduled to hear from people with disabilities, their families and their caregivers about their experiences with emergencies or disaster situations. The Administration for Community Living is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and it wants to hear from Nebraskans with disabilities about how they plan, respond and recover from these challenging situations.

Organizers say the sessions will help the agency improve its support, training and technical assistance during emergencies and disasters.

The first event is scheduled to run from 1 to 3 p.m. on Nov. 17 at Columbus Community Hospital, 4600 38th St. The second is scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to noon on Nov. 18 at the Salvation Army Omaha Kroc Center, 2825 Y St.

Those wishing to attend are asked to RVSP at the ACL Listens website or by calling 301-588-6046.

Firefighters from Red Oak were called to the Growth Unlimited building at 108 North 2nd Street, Saturday morning. The blaze was reported at around 3:30 a.m.  Flames were shooting through the roof of the building as crews arrived on the scene. Crews were on scene for approximately two hours and no injuries were reported. The flames were said to have been put down after about 45-minutes. The building was a total loss, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

The Red Oak Fire Department was assisted by the Red Oak Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Montgomery County Emergency Management, MidAmerican Energy, Mediacom and Red Oak Public Works.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest at around 11:20-p.m. Saturday, of 33-year old Sara Sue Batten. The Red Oak woman was arrested for Driving While Barred, and was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 5-a.m. CST

CLARINDA, Iowa – The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports authorities were notified at around 11:45-a.m. Saturday (11/9), that a body that had been found in a field about one-mile north of Clarinda. Sheriff’s deputies and the Page County Medical Examiners Office, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation were called to the scene. The body that was recovered was sent to the State Medical Examiners Office for an Autopsy. At this time, no other information is being released pending Autopsy results.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man has been charged with a hate crime after police say he torn down and burned an LGBTQ flag hanging outside a Des Moines bar. WIO reports that 32-year-old Daniel Rosemark was arrested after the early Wednesday morning incident. Police say Rosemark torn down the pride flag that had been outside The Blazing Saddle in the East Village.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police say a man has been charged in the killing last month of a Des Moines man. Des Moines police say in a news release that 39-year-old Nicky Joe Beery, of Des Moines, was charged in a warrant Saturday with first-degree murder in the death of 43-year-old James Moss Jr. Moss found injured at a home early the morning of Oct. 5 and was pronounced dead later at a hospital.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa law enforcement officials are warning of a phone scam by people posing as Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation staff. The division says it has received reports from the public that scammers are trying to extort money from Iowa residents and are misrepresenting themselves as DCI agents working with the FBI to collect money. The DCI does not request payment over the phone.