The 14-mile drive from Minot Air Force Base into the Magic City may seem unremarkable to some, dotted with a handful of homes, a church, and a golf course along Highway 83. But for many commuters, one familiar landmark on the east side of the road near Ruthville, North Dakota, stood out for years, a dilapidated, slanting barn that looked as though it could topple over at any moment.
Last week, after years of enduring North Dakota’s brutal winds, snowstorms, and harsh conditions, the iconic barn finally collapsed. The news quickly spread through the “Minot AFB Families Uncensored” Facebook group, sparking an unexpected flood of emotions, excitement, sadness, nostalgia, and even admiration.
“We PCSed and stayed on Minot pages specifically to see this,we have been waiting for this for like seven years” wrote one commenter.
But for one Airman, the collapse of the barn was far more than the loss of a roadside oddity. For Technical Sergeant Dorian Garland assigned to the 5th Logistic Readiness Squadron, it marked the end of a deeply personal chapter and a powerful symbol of perseverance.
Garland’s journey to Minot wasn’t an easy one. Originally stationed in Turkey with follow-on orders to Yokota Air Base in Japan, Garland’s plans were upended in November 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Garland recalled. “Then my orders were denied due to some ‘shenanigans’ with the medical squadron, and I was diverted to Minot.”
Arriving in February 2021, Garland admits he struggled with resentment and disappointment. “I was very bitter. I didn’t want to be here. I had built up animosity, to say the least.”
TSgt Garland shared that the first time he saw the barn, he thought, ‘It was the most random thing I ever seen and thought it was pretty typical of Minot as the base is way out there in some random field”.
What began as a curiosity soon became something much more. Garland began to use the weathered barn as a metaphor for his own mental resilience.
“I saw it every day. Even if just for a few seconds, I could see the changes over time. I told myself: If that barn can withstand all the brutal weather this place throws at it, then I can deal with whatever trials and tribulations that would come my way.”
Over time, the barn became a symbol, a constant reminder to “grin and bear whatever life throws my way” as Garland described. He even came to believe its fate was linked to his own.
“I used to say that the day I leave Minot, the barn would finally collapse. And now, it has.”
Garland recently received orders to South Korea, not quite Tokyo, he jokes, but “close enough.” Just as he prepares to close the chapter on his time at Minot, the barn finally gave in.
Though the structure has fallen, part of its roof still juts out of the ground, a final defiant gesture from a building that, like Garland, refused to give up.
“I recently took a photo of it,” he said. “I hope to use it at my retirement party one day as a symbol of resilience. It sounds silly, but that barn was a big part of me being able to make it through Minot.”
To some, it was an eyesore. To others, a punchline. But for one Airman, it was a beacon of strength.
As Garland prepares for his next assignment, the barn may be gone but the lessons it taught him remain standing.
This may be Garland’s story, but that leaning shack likely meant something to countless others who passed it every day on their way to and from base.
Over the decades, it became a sort of secret icon, not widely known, but deeply familiar to those who lived and served at Minot AFB. It stood through everything, quietly marking time and change, until it couldn’t anymore. Now it’s gone, but for those who remember it, it’ll always be part of what made Minot feel like its own unforgettable place.
