DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, most folks rolling through Uvalde might not think twice about the land stretching out around that old airfield. But pull over a minute, because this ground has got a story worth hearing.
It was July of 1941 when Garner Army Air Field came to life right here — named in honor of John Nance Garner, former vice president of the United States and a Texas native. A fitting name for a place that was about to do something serious. The training operation itself ran through Hangar Six, a private flying school owned by one John Lapham out of San Antonio.
Now here's something worth noting — the ones actually teaching those young men to fly were civilians. Civilians in the cockpit, Army Air Corps officers handling the administration. And on the ground?
More civilians keeping the whole thing running. Maintenance crews, men and women both, working as aircraft mechanics. And somebody had to pack the parachutes — which, if you think about it, is the kind of job where you really do not want to have a bad day at the office.
Fifty cadets reported for duty by October of 1941, and they started getting acquainted with the PT-19A training aircraft. Somewhere in that early group, a young man named Tom Holland — from Fayetteville, Tennessee — climbed up, pointed that nose into the Texas sky, and made the first solo flight. You don't forget a thing like that.
By the time that first class of cadets graduated, the country was at war. You can sit with that for a second. They came to learn to fly.
They left knowing exactly what that flying was for. Later classes grew considerably — as many as three hundred and sixty cadets at a time, drawn from the United States, twenty-one Latin American countries, and Turkey. All of them spending ten weeks in Uvalde.
And the people of this town — all ages — made it a point to befriend every last one of them. That's the kind of thing that doesn't show up on a training record, but it stays with a person. The field was deactivated in 1945.
But here's where the story takes a turn that not every old military base gets to make. Four hangars, the control tower, and the runways kept right on going as a city airport. And those remaining ten one-story buildings?
They became Southwest Texas Junior College, which opened its doors to students in 1946. Flight training didn't disappear either — area residents got their training and certification right here at the field, and flight instruction became part of the college curriculum. A place built to send young men into wartime skies found a way, when the war was done, to just keep teaching people to fly.
Not a bad second act for a patch of Uvalde ground.
What the marker says
Established in July 1941, Garner Army Air Field was named in honor of former vice president John Nance Garner, a Texas native. Hangar Six, a private flying school owned by John Lapham of San Antonio, provided flight training conducted by civilians with Army Air Corps officers as administrators. Other civilian jobs included maintenance and parachute packing; both men and women worked as aircraft mechanics. Fifty cadets reported for duty by October 1941 and began learning to fly PT-19A training aircraft. Tom Holland of Fayetteville, Tennessee, made the first solo flight. By the time the first class of cadets graduated, the country was at war. Later classes contained as many as 360 cadets from the U.S., twenty-one Latin American countries, and Turkey. Uvalde citizens of all ages befriended the cadets during their 10-week stay in the area. After deactivation in 1945, four hangars, the control tower, and runways continued in use as a city airport. The remaining ten on-story buildings became Southwest Texas Junior College which opened its doors to students in 1946. Area residents received flight training and certification at the field, and flight instruction became part of the college curriculum. (1992)