JOHN DOUANGDARA MEMORIAL GOLF TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD SEPT. 14

The Naval Submarine Base Police Department is asking area fire and police departments to volunteer to fly an American flag in honor of Navy Petty Officer First-class John Douangdara, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in August 2011.

The idea is to have a different department fly the flag each day leading up to Sept. 14, when the base’s police department is hosting the first John Douangdara Memorial Golf Tournament at the Shennecossett Golf Course in Groton.

The event benefits the Connecticut Special Olympics, but the police department also wanted to take the opportunity to recognize Douangdara, of South Sioux City, Neb. The plan is to place the flag, after it is flown by various departments, in a shadow box memorializing his service. His sister, who serves in the military, is expected to attend the golf tournament and accept the gift.

Douangdara served in the Navy for eight years, including a tour as a master-at-arms at the sub base from August 2006 to January 2008. Douangdara, 26, was killed on Aug. 6, 2011 when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter he was riding in was shot down by the Taliban in Wardak province, Afghanistan. He was a Naval Special Warfare member who handled a dog for Navy SEAL Team Six.

For more information, call sub base police Officer Brian McCarthy at (860) 460-2219 or email baldgu1469@gmail.com. the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, known for housing the largest collection of dinosaur remains in the United States. His last day at the Connecticut River Museum will be Aug. 17, according to a news release from the museum. Tom Wilcox, the president of the museum’s board of trustees, will serve as interim director while the board searches for a replacement.

“My passion for the Connecticut River Museum and the great river which it celebrates is undiminished,” Dobbs said in the release. “But it is an incredible honor to be asked to lead a large Smithsonian affiliate institution with such significant collections and an international reputation.”

Wilcox said in the announcement that Dobbs has championed new programs and exhibits, including a replica of Onrust, the ship 17th-century Dutch explorer Adriaen Block used to explore New York’s East River and the Long Island Sound, and helped push fundraising for a $5 million capital campaign to within about $500,000 of that goal.

Jennifer White-Dobbs, Dobbs’ wife and the museum’s director of education and marketing, also will leave her position to move to Montana, and Suzanne Burns, the museum’s current coordinator of environmental education, will take her place. Museum programming will continue as usual during the transition.