Sheik ... October 16, 1962 I was stationed at Roswell AFB NM going through upgrade training into the KC-135. About 5 pm that day we were all ordered to the base and advised of the Cuban Missile Crisis and that the school was shut down and all of us in training were to proceed to our next base assignment within 24 hours. I hightailed it home in Roswell, rented a U-Haul trailer on the way, packed as many household goods as the family could get into a 4X6 trailer, returned the keys to the landlord, and by early next morning were headed to Bergstrom AFB.

About daylight as were a few miles east of Roswell one of the kids said "Dad, what are those things?" To the left and right of the highway we saw Atlas Missiles coming out of the ground. I told the family to hunker down in the car and I poured the gas to it. We did not know whether a launch was imminent or not but were taking no chances. A scary moment!

man, what a different time.

I'd have kept looking over my shoulder watching for vapor trails all day. Long days. My dad was in South Korea sitting alert waiting for something to happen.

Growing up Air Force, I remember very well the alert siren. Everybody pulled over and stopped where ever you were on base. Except us kids, we'd hop on our bikes and run down to watch the planes take off. In the late 60's we were at Mather in Sacremento. Our vantage point was the end of the runway where the B-52s and KC-135's would start their roll. They'd slowly pull away, blowing black smoke, the wings on the B-52 actually looking like they were flapping as they ran down the runway, then all of them would pull off into the sky. But the roar for that 5 or 10 minutes was awesome and made your ears ring all day.

quote:

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Four of the heavies would be on takeoff roll at one time. By the time 3 had lifted off black smoke had reduced vis to zero ... and turbulence after takeoff would rattle your brains.

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I bet those wingtip vortices were a huge problem, when you've got that many big planes taking off in such a short timespan. You hit a vortex (which is invisible, unless the smoke shows it up) and it'll flip you on your back. That's what happened to a passenger jet in New York a few years ago.

Go back to page one of this thread, and take a good look at Boozoo's post on the Amarillo AFB. It was a B-52 base in the 50s and 60s, and it still has one of the top 5 longest runways in the United States.

The current terminal is built over the top of the concrete apron where B-52s used to be parked on alert. The B-52 maintainence hangers are still there on the NE corner of the runways. During Viet Nam, Bell Helicopter built choppers there.

The jet fuel was not trucked in, but was piped in from the refineries 50 miles distant. The nuclear weapons plant was about 5 miles away.

Too bad the Texas Panhandle voted for Goldwater in 1964. LBJ shut the base down soon thereafter. After all, votes are more important than the security, efficiency and millions of dollars invested in the base.


And this thread is diverging from WWII, not that I really care.

back to WWII

how about Camp Bowie near Brownwood
120,000 acres, home to the 36th Division and others. Original Camp Bowie was in Fort Worth during WWI, recommissioned in Brown County in 1940

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/CC/qbc4.html

from this image, you might can see how big it actually was


so the google map is kind of limiting in its scope
I think the HQ building was on the hill where the Brownwood hospital is now, and the camp then stretched 20 miles or more to the southeast

The hospital is in the top left of this link also in that picture near the bottom center is the home of the Brownwood Lions, Gordon Wood stadium. A little further Southeast is the current Camp Bowie National Guard Center and its 3,000 acres or so.

I guess if you wanted a Google of the whole Camp Bowie area, it would look like this
all the way from Brownwood to Zephyr to Mullin then back west to the intersection of FM 574 and 45.

Dalhart Army Air Field was another of those huge bases thrown up in a few short months at a cost of millions, then abandoned after the war was won. The link above is from the Handbook of Texas Online, and it mentions two auxiliary fields. I only know of one.

Here's the main field two miles southwest of Dalhart, now used as their municipal airport. But about three miles east of there is This auxiliary field, quite literally a ghost of its former self. Foundations and the faint image of former runways still visible.

This photo shows the general area of the Rita Blanca National Grasslands. It consists of several scattered large tracts owned by the forest service. This was the heart of the dust bowl, and the government bought several blown out farms and ranches in this area, and returned them to native grasses. During WWII, they also used them as gunnery ranges for the Dalhart AAF. I worked with a soil conservationist who had found .50 caliber brass casings while working in the grasslands.

And we can't forget this Important WWII Historic Site.

Many of the buildings used as backdrops to a cheesy propaganda movie of WWII are still in use today. This includes the former Band Dorm, Bizzell Hall, now converted to office space, where the interior dorm scenes were shot.

This was also the training ground for more officers than any other college in America, and produced 7 Medal of Honor Recipients. Also visible are the home where a hero of D-Day lived when he was university president, and where his dog is buried. The dog later loaned his name to the current SecDef.

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 2/7/2007 10:22a).]

Amarillo was a SAC base for a while wasn't it?

B-52 pretty much = SAC.

Amarillo Air Force Base was never a "SAC base." During WWII it was a training base and closed in about 1947. It was reopened for training in about 1950 primarily for jet engine mechanics plus other specialties and continued in that role until 1968 when the base was closed permanently. The base during those times belonged to Air Training Command.

SAC moved the 4128th Strategic Wing B-52) onto Amarillo AFB in 1960 but that was by a joint tenancy agreement. The Wing was redesignated 461st Bombardment Wing (B-52) in 1963 and it remained there as a tenant until the base closed in 1968. During the 60s SAC dispersed its forces throughout the US to complicate targeting of USSR ICBMs. SAC bases were the number 1 priority targets for the Russkies.

The Atlas talk got me remembering stories my dad told me about his days working on that missile. As an EE fresh out of A&M he was assigned to the Propulsion Unit(PU) system for the Atlas. Some issue at a northern tier base was destroying the PU system on one missile during the pre-fueling checklists the crews ran twice a day on the missiles. So he was sent there with another engineer to replace the system every time they did that. Convair suggested they stop running the checklist until they could figure out what was going on but due to National Security they refused (they weren’t going to get a successful launch anyway so go figure). My dad and the other guy were the only engineers they could get there for the first 48 hours. So every time they pre-fueled the missile and burned out the PU the two of them would replace it just in time to run the checklist again. They replaced four systems costing thousands of dollars even in the 50s before relief came for them. They both went 48 hours without any sleep or time to eat, my dad said by the end of it they were definitely hallucinating due to sleep deprivation. I think he said it took them a week to figure out the problem, in the meantime they kept burning up the systems twice a day.

This is a great thread! Thanks fossil_ag, Canyon Ag and all of the others.

WWII Troop Trains

A bit of WWII history mostly forgotten was the method of moving vast numbers of troops about the countryside to training bases or to ports of embarkation. Every town with train tracks witnessed this on an almost daily basis ... very long trains with cars filled with servicemen staring out the windows. These trains as a rule did not stop at local stations but only slowed when passing through. But local people when able gathered at the tracks to wave and show the V for Victory sign ... and many a mama cried. For fairly short hauls the servicemen traveled in standard coaches painted tan. For longer trips the trains had special sleeper cars built by Pullman along with Kitchen Cars. Troop Trains were a daily visual reminder that we were at war ... and the faces in the windows of the cars were the ones who would be fighting and dying.




Photo of Pullman troop sleeper #9153. In United States railroad terminology, a troop sleeper was a railroad passenger car which had been constructed to serve as something of a mobile barracks (essentially, a sleeping car) for transporting troops over distances sufficient to require overnight accommodations. This method allowed part of the trip to be made overnight, reducing the amount of transit time required and increasing travel efficiency.

quote:

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Between December, 1941 and June, 1945 U.S. railroads carried almost 44 million armed services personnel. As there were not an adequate number of cars and coaches available to meet the massive need for troop transit created by World War II, in late 1943 the U.S. Office of Defense Transportation contracted with the Pullman Company to build 2,400 troop sleepers, and with American Car and Foundry to build 440 troop kitchen cars.

This new rolling stock was either converted from existing boxcars or built from scratch based on AAR standard 50'-6" single-sheathed steel boxcar designs, and were constructed entirely out of steel with heavily-reinforced ends. In some instances baggage cars were converted into temporary kitchen cars before ACF could complete its order.[2] The cars were painted the standard Pullman Green and affixed with gold lettering.

A 1943 builder's photo of ACF troop kitchen #K-100.Equipped with special Allied Full Cushion high-speed swing-motion trucks, Pullman troop sleepers were designed to be fully-interchangeable with all other passenger equipment. The units came equipped with end doors similar otthose found on standard railway cars, but had no vestibules.[4] Loading and unloading of passengers was accomplished via wide doors positioned on each side at the center of the cars with built-in trap doors and steps. Light and ventilation was provided by ten window units mounted on each side, each equipped with rolling black out shades and wire mesh screens.

Troop sleepers, which were generally intended for use by enlisted personnel, were equipped with bunks stacked 3-high, and slept 29 servicemen plus the Pullman porter. Every passenger was provided with a separate Pullman bed, complete with sheets and pillowcases that were changed daily. The berths were laid out in a cross-wise arrangement that placed the aisle along one side of the car, as opposed to down the center. Though the upper berths were fixed, the middle and lower sections could be reconfigured into seating during the daytime. Weapon racks were provided for each group of berths. Four washstands (two mounted at each end of the car) delivered hot and cold running water. The cars also came outfitted with two enclosed toilets and a drinking water cooler.

Troop kitchens, rolling galleys, were also part of the trains in order to provide meal service en route (the troops took their meals in their seats or bunks). As the cooking was performed by regular Army cooks, the cars were outfitted with two Army-standard coal ranges. The cars were also equipped with a pair of 200-gallon cold water tanks and a 40-gallon hot water tank; supplies were stocked on open shelves with marine-type railings, a bread locker, a large refrigerator, and a series of built-in cabinets and drawers. The cars served approximately 250 men each, and were typically placed in the middle of the train in order that food could be served from both ends.

Troop hospital cars, also based on the troop sleeper carbody, transported wounded servicemen and typically travelled in solid strings on special trains averaging fifteen cars each. Each had 38 berths for patients, 30 of which were arranged in the central section of the car in three tiers on each side. There was also a section with six berths which could be used for isolation cases as well as private compartments for special cases. Each unit was ice air-conditioned and came fitted with a shower room along with a modern kitchen with the latest equipment.

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Edit: Damn, that was a Great Generation to be a part of ... and if you were too young to be a part of it, to be able to witness it.





[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 2/7/2007 4:17p).]

Dyess was mentioned earlier, but it only dates from the late 50's

But Dyess' location was formerly Tye Army Airfield

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DYESS AIR FORCE BASE. Dyess Air Force Base, four miles west of Abilene, was named after William Edwin Dyess, a distinguished World War II pilot who died in 1943. The base, an adjunct of Camp Barkeley, was initially known as Tye Army Air Field when it was established in December 1942.

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check out the B-1's online today

something else I just thought of

the linear air park at Dyess
this is the front gate at Dyess
following the road south and west from here to see more of the planes on display.

from left to right
B-47
KC-135
this B-52

KC-97 Stratotanker
This B-17 - "The Reluctant Dragon"

then "The Star of Abilene", the first B-1 delivered to Dyess in 1985
and a C-130

and another personal ps:
my Dad swears the F-86 tail number on display is one he flew in Japan in the mid-50's

wait check this out !
Google Earth Community with all the planes on the base ID'd

and more on the Dyess airpark

http://aeroweb.brooklyn.cuny.edu/museums/tx/dlap.htm



[This message has been edited by TheSheik (edited 2/7/2007 10:00p).]

About 12 miles west of Pampa on FM152 are the remains of the Pampa Army Air Field. This was a huge training operation that graduated over 6000 advanced pilots and 3500 mechanics. Among the planes used there were B-25s, one of which is on display in Pampa at the Freedom Museum USA.

The B-25 was the "Doolittle" bomber, used in the famous raid on Tokyo. In fact, according to the Handbook of Texas Online, sixteen of the B-25s used in the Doolittle raid were actually taken from the Pampa base. Fifteen were lost, but the one that landed in Russia still exists. From Pampa to Siberia, via the Hornet and Tokyo!

The "Abandoned and little used airfields" web site has a good Page on Pampa AAF. Take a look at the old runway plans and compare to current farmland. The runways are long gone, but faint traces can still be seen across the farmland.

If you ever travel to Marfa you can see the remains of Marfa AAF. It was a training center for B-17/25 pilots from 1942-45. The entrance is located nearly across the road from the Marfa Lights viewing area.

A little history of airfields in the area:
http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/Airfields_TX_BigBend.html#marfa

The link below is a pic of Marfa located b/t Marfa and Alpine HWY 67/90 East. This was the main field. If you follow the map west through Marfa following HWY 90 towards Van Horn you will see an auxillary field. Go north up HWY 16 from Marfa and you will find another Aux field that is still in use.



edited link - I think.

2nd edit - deleted link. How do you import a Google Earth link?

The first history link has aerial photos in it. Search google earth to find Marfa and follow the directions above while I figure out how to put in the link.

[This message has been edited by FIDO_Ags (edited 2/8/2007 11:28a).]

[This message has been edited by FIDO_Ags (edited 2/8/2007 11:32a).]

You folks are doing a good job of locating long abandoned airfields, army camps and POW internment camps ... but you have a long way to go. During WWII there were about 65 Army Air Corps flight training fields and 35 Army camps/forts in Texas.

The airfields were mostly located west of a line connecting Sherman, Bryan, San Antonio to Laredo. The reason for this was fewer cloudy days and other weather that would hamper flight training.

Know too that each training field needed more than one training area to operate in for instrument training, aerobatics, etc. A reserved airspace training area had to be at least 30 miles square (about the size of a West Texas county. So you can see that 50-60 pilot training bases in West Texas consumed the equivalent of 80-100 counties of airspace.

In the 40s commercial aviation was in its infancy and presented little competition for space. Likewise, general aviation was virtually non existant. Military ferry flights were commonly seen ... all types, and occasionally the sky would be filled with formations of B-17s or B-24s apparantly in a squadron or wing move to a war theater. All operated in Visual Flight Rules (see and be seen) so it was each pilot's responsibility to avoid collisions.

If I can google some good pics I will describe the navigation aids available to pilots in those days for cross-country flying ... and in many cases how they found their way back to home field after an energetic few hours of local flying.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 2/8/2007 12:57p).]

FIDO-

We're not using Google Earth, we're using Google Maps. It does pretty much the same thing using the same photos/maps. The link is

http://maps.google.com/maps

Once you have the location you want, look on the upper right to the "link to this page" option. It puts a new address in your browser address bar. Then copy and paste it here using url /url.

Google Map Link for Marfa AAF

I can't believe you guys missed this one:

quote:

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Bryan Air Force Base, six miles west of Bryan in Brazos County, was originally Bryan Army Air Field. The base was activated in 1943 as an instructors' school assigned the task of developing a standardized system of instrument flying. The Full Panel Attitude System developed at the base was one of the most significant contributions the base made to pilot training. The instrument-training school at Bryan AAF was the only one of its kind in the United States Army Air Forces.

In 1943, Bryan Field was the starting point of the first intentional meteorological flight into a hurricane.

The base became Bryan Air Force Base upon separation of the air force from the army in 1947. It was deactivated in May 1961. The land and buildings were deeded to the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University) in 1962.

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Google Map Link

Seawolf Park:

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The USS Cavalla is berthed in Seawolf Park, Galveston, Texas as a memorial to the lost submarine USS Seawolf. Cavalla was a Gato class fleet sub, designed and built in the summer of 1943 by the Electric Boat Company and launched on November 14, 1943. She was commissioned on Feb. 29, 1944, the first "leap year" boat built by E.B. On June 19, 1944, on her maiden patrol, she sank the 30,000 ton aircraft carrier Shokaku (veteran of Pearl Harbor and Battle of Coral Sea). This earned her the Presidential Unit Citation.

After the war, the Cavalla was decommissioned in 1946. She was brought back to service in 1951 and assigned to the Submarine Squadron 10 in New London, Conn. To meet the Soviet threat, she underwent conversion in 1952 to a new class of American sub--the SSK (hunter/killer).

On January 21, 1971, the U.S. Navy transferred possession of Cavalla to the Texas Submarine Veterans of WWII. The Cavalla was then delivered to her permanent berth in Seawolf Park, Galveston, Texas.

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Google Map Link

My brother has been on the Cavalla. The buttons still work. He hit the collision alarm and it went off. Intercom works, too.

Hondo, Texas had a fairly good-sized base. If I remember right, it was a navagation school that was basically an annex to Kelly field.

http://www.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&q=&t=k&om=1&z=15&ll=29.356743,-99.165001&spn=0.019263,0.053988

The city uses the runway still. Most people don't realized how blessed we are to be Texans, because we had tons of bases built down here due to the great weather for training. After the war, a lot of these towns bought some of these on the cheap, sometimes for as little as $1.

Going out further west, Garner Field in Uvalde (Named after FD Roosevelt's first vice president, John Nance Garner, who was a Uvalde native, also saw WWII service.

After the war, it was sold to the city and the facilities were turned into Southwest Texas Jr. College.

They still have a couple of the original hangars. The dark one on the left is one of the old-style ones.
http://www.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&q=&t=k&om=1&z=17&ll=29.218132,-99.74262&spn=0.004822,0.013497

[This message has been edited by aalan94 (edited 2/8/2007 2:21p).]

Sweet.

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I love these threads, Texas and History. My two favorite subjects. I was all over that Images of Aggieland thread on the Football board.

Fort Crockett

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During the Second World War, Fort Crockett was expanded with an additional large gun battery, and focus was placed on defense against German U-boats. Additionally, the Fort served as a prisoner of war camp.

Due to the massive amount of concrete used in constructing the protective casemate for the guns and magazines, Battery Hoskins proved uneconomical to remove. The abandoned casemates remained an unofficial tourist attraction for decades. In the 1990s, a luxury resort was built on and behind the battery. The massive concrete gun emplacements remain dramatically visible from the seawall highway that runs along Galveston Beach, even though one gun emplacement now sports a swimming pool atop it, and the other gun emplacement is adorned with a wedding gazebo!

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Google Map Link for Battery Hoskins



Google Map Link for remaining Fort Crockett buildings which now house a NOAA Fisheries Lab.

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Kinda related to this thread, but have y'all read the story of the USS Houston?
The Galloping Ghost of the Java Coast:

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Receiving word that the major Japanese invasion force was approaching Java protected by a formidable surface unit, Admiral Doorman resolutely determined to meet and seek to destroy the main convoy. Sailing on 26 February 1942 with Houston, HMAS Perth, HNLMS De Ruyter, HMS Exeter, HNLMS Java and 10 destroyers, he met the Japanese support force under Admiral Takeo Takagi consisting of 4 cruisers and 13 destroyers.

In the Battle of the Java Sea which followed, Doorman's forces fought valiantly, but were doomed by lack of air cover and communication difficulties.

At 23:00 the same night, the cruisers again encountered the Japanese surface group. On parallel courses the opposing units opened fire, and the Japanese launched a devastating torpedo attack 30 minutes later. De Ruyter and Java, caught in a spread of 12 torpedoes, exploded and sank, carrying their captains and Admiral Doorman down with them.

[edit]
Sunda Strait Battle

Before losing contact with Perth and Houston, Doorman had ordered them to retire. This was accomplished, but the next day the two ships steamed into Banten Bay, hoping to damage the Japanese invasion forces there. The cruisers were almost torpedoed as they approached the bay, but evaded the nine torpedoes launched by destroyer Fubuki.

The cruisers then sank one transport and forced three others to beach. A destroyer squadron blocked Sunda Strait, their means of retreat, and on the other hand large cruisers Mogami and Mikuma stood dangerously near. The resulting battle was foreordained, but Houston and Perth could not withdraw. Perth came under fire at 23:36 and in an hour had been sunk from gunfire and torpedo hits. Houston then fought alone until soon after midnight, when she took a torpedo and began to lose headway.

During this time Houston's gunners scored hits on three different destroyers and sank a minesweeper, but suffered three more torpedo explosions in quick succession. Captain Albert Rooks was killed by a bursting shell at 00:30 and as the ship came to a stop Japanese destroyers moved in, machine gunning the decks. A few minutes later the Houston rolled over and sank, her ensign still flying. Of the original crew of 1,061, 368 survived.

[edit]
Aftermath

Houston's fate was not known by the world for almost 9 months, and the full story of her last fight was not fully told until after the war was over and her survivors were liberated from prison camps.

Captain Rooks received posthumously the Medal of Honor for this extraordinary heroism. Houston Chaplain George S. Rentz was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross—the only Navy Chaplain to be so honored during World War II.

The crew of the Houston is honored alongside that of the Perth at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia.


In addition to two battle stars, Houston was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.

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The HOUSTON AVENGERS:

1,000 recruits joined the Navy in a huge ceremony in Downtown Houston at a bond drive following the loss of the City's beloved vessel. They each went on to serve their country in all areas of the US Navy during WWII.

[This message has been edited by p_bubel (edited 2/8/2007 2:53p).]

I spent two hours searching for the correct Google Map location for the pipeline endpoint with Google and EPA links, but I'm still unsure as to the exact location. I think I might have it right because a historical marker is located on the site as well as the address of the current pipeline owner and EPA records match up to the same location.

But, if any local knows differently I'd be happy to correct my link.

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The Big Inch

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Before the United States entry into World War II following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, ninety-five percent of the crude oil delivered to East Coast refineries was transported by tanker ships. Ninety percent of that oil originated from Texas oil fields. Beginning in february 1942, many U.S. oil tankers en route from the Gulf of Mexico to the East Coast were sunk by German submarines. Recognizing the need to transport oil under safer circumstances, Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes developed a plan for massive overland oil pipeline. Under the auspices of the War Emergency Pipelines, Inc., construction began on the largest pipeline in history up to that time. Measuring twenty-four inches in diameter, the Big Inch pipeline extended from Longview to Norris City, Illinois, and eventually to refineries in the East. The Big Inch pipeline's impact on the war effort was tremendous, enabling the safe and timely transport of oil products vital to the Allies. During the height of wartime service, over 300,000 barrels of oil were delivered each day over the 1,476-mile line.

At the end of the war, the Inch Lines became part of the war surplus property. Formal bids were submitted in early 1947 with the winning bid going to Texas Eastern Transmission Corp. (TETCO). After the sale, the Inch Lines were converted for the transmission of natural gas.

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A pretty cool period article on the pipeline from Time:

Big Inch Comes Through (1943)

Also:

quote:

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One oilman should be singled out so far as the laying of the Big Inch is concerned. That man was Burt E. Hull of the Texas Company (Texaco). He was what one might call the "dean of the pipeliners" in the U. S. Under his direction the Big Inch was completed in record time.

The Big Inch and Little Big Inch pipelines, it should be stressed, aided almost beyond estimation the winning of World War Two by the Allies. For one thing, protected as they were from enemy attack, it was possible to circumvent submarine attacks by the Germans, which had wreaked havoc on oil tankers from the Gulf of Mexico by way of the Caribbean to the East Coast.

...it must be added--the Big Inch and the Little Big Inch pipelines were both finished before the D-Day invasion at Normandy on 6 June 1944. That made possible the delivery of huge quantities of crude and its refined products for Operation Overlord, the code name for that landing in northern France.

Now, it cannot be stated too forcefully, American oil, which amounted in all to 6 billion barrels, out of a total of 7 billion barrels consumed by the Allies for the period of World War Two, brought victory! Without the prodigious delivery of oil from the U. S. this global war, quite frankly, could never have been won.

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My suspect Google Map Link

Some of the artifacts in the photos displayed here appear to be in various states of disrepair. Shouldn't we be trying to preserve them? I haven't looked it up, but I think there was a POW encampment in Navasota. Can anyone confirm this?

Since some of us share an interest in the more arcane aspects of WWII history, might we gather someplace, say a happy hour or something, sometime? Realizing we live miles from each other, some coordination is required. Is there any interest in getting together?

CanyonAg77-thanks.

quote:

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I haven't looked it up, but I think there was a POW encampment in Navasota. Can anyone confirm this?

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Actually, it was Hearne. That was the largest POW camp in the U.S.

I'm all for a happy hour. Anybody coming Austin way, give me shout.

aalan, I know about camp Hearne, but I think one existed in Navasota as well. Let me do a little checking.

quote:

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Consequently, in addition to the base camps, Texas had twenty-two branch camps, some containing as few as thirty-five or forty prisoners, to provide labor to farms and factories located too far from the main POW camps. The branch camps, like the labor program, were temporary and often housed in school buildings, old Civilian Conservation Corpsqv facilities, fairgrounds, even circus tents like those erected for the Navasota branch camp

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There we go, a branch POW camp.

I'm glad to see somebody talk about someplace that I spent the majority of my military service at: Camp Bowie in Brownwood

I always wondered about the concrete slabs and traces of abandoned roads that you can see on the North side of the road between the present day Groner Pitts Armory and the Kohler factory to the west. I always assumed that those foundations were for structures used during WWII.

If you hang around a barber shop in Central Texas long enough with some old time Texas Army National Guard guys, you'll hear them talk about the glory days of North Fort Hood

The Glory days of NFH surely had to be last century. Many years ago I was the central office chief, today known as a network administrator at NFH. Let me tell you it was a desolate, but quiet place to work. Some of you may remember Pres. Reagan's firing of striking air traffic controllers back in 198-. Some of my ATC's took the opportunity to bolt from the ARMY and become replacements for the strikers. Interesting times. We shut down the NFH airfield for six months, until enough in house newbies could replace our departed 93Ps. I said NFH was desolate, but not dead, there was daily activity, but we were far enough away from Main FH as to be able to accomplish any mission without any significant interference from A'Holes. Just thought I'd share.

[This message has been edited by terata (edited 2/9/2007 10:43a).]

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 2/10/2007 7:41a).]

Here is my first post on the history board. Here is a Texas Ghost of WW II, the USS Texas:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=USS+Texas+WWII&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&z=18&ll=29.756246,-95.089685&spn=0.002226,0.003573&t=k&om=1

Firsts for the USS Texas:
- In 1916 Texas became the first U. S. battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns and the first to control gunfire with directors and range-keepers, analog forerunners of todays computers.

- In 1919 Texas became the first U. S. battleship to launch an aircraft and served as a plane guard and navigational reference for the first trans-Atlantic flight by the seaplane NC-4, after which she transferred to the Pacific Fleet.

- In 1927 Texas became the flagship of the U. S. Fleet and inaugurated the use of "talking" pictures for crew entertainment.

- Texas received the first commercial radar in the U. S. Navy in 1939.

- In 1948, Texas became the first battleship memorial museum in the U. S.