Electrical Connection Donates Services, Materials to Upgrade Jefferson Barracks POW-MIA Museum

Image courtesy of The Electrical Connection

(Left to right) Bobbie Schicker, daughter of Mel “Sandy” Masters; her husband, Steve; IBEW Local 1 volunteers

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – When the family of Mel “Sandy” Masters came to donate memorabilia to the Jefferson Barracks POW-MIA Museum, it discovered a small group of workers doing what they could to honor those like Masters.

Four members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1 were volunteering to provide electrical upgrades donated by the IBEW/NECA Electrical Connection partnership. The four volunteers were part of the IBEW Local 1 Veterans Committee and were installing electrical infrastructure for a heating upgrade at the museum. They included Dale Fluegge, Rick Dinnella, Mike Callahan and Austin Renshaw. Dinnella and Callahan are both U.S. Army veterans. Later this year, the volunteers will wire the new heaters providing greater comfort for museum visitors during the winter months.

Masters was with the 589^th, 106^th infantry Division when he was captured Dec. 16, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge. He was sent to Stalag 9B as a prisoner of war.  When Masters’ daughter Bobbie Schicker and her husband Steve encountered the IBEW volunteers, they ask them to join them in a photo with the memorabilia being donated.