DUANE
Duane's take
The way I tell it, this comes straight from the marker the Texas Historical Commission put up in Val Verde County — so let's let the record speak. Now, eight years after the Wright Brothers made history at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, a man by the name of Galbraith Perry Rodgers set his plane down right there in Del Rio. The year was 1911, and he was in the middle of the first transcontinental flight across the United States.
Think about that for a moment. The whole country watching, and Del Rio, Texas is one of the stops on the map. That was a major event — and the people of Del Rio knew it.
But the sky over that town was just gettin' warmed up. During World War I, Del Rio became a center of aerial patrols along the United States-Mexico border. And then in 1919, planes were dispatched to the area in reaction to Pancho Villa's border raids.
Routine work, dangerous skies, and among the pilots stationed there flying those border patrols was a lieutenant by the name of James H. Doolittle. You might want to hold onto that name.
The marker notes he later gained international attention in World War II. A young man flying patrol routes over the Rio Grande — and the world hadn't seen the last of him, not by a long shot. Fast forward to the 1940s.
Del Rio gets chosen as the site of an air base. Why Del Rio? The marker tells us exactly: flat terrain and a mild climate.
The base opened as the first B-26 bombardier school in the country. And they named it Laughlin Air Force Base — in honor of Lt. Jack T.
Laughlin, the first pilot from Del Rio killed in action in World War II. A name given not in triumph, but in remembrance. The base ran as a pilot training school, then closed after the war.
Might've stayed closed, too — but local residents pushed, and in 1952, through their efforts, it was reopened. What followed is something. Laughlin went on to be utilized for Astronaut Training.
Strategic Air Command U-2 reconnaissance missions. The development of Air Training Command's undergraduate pilot training mission. And other important innovations that the marker credits to this one stretch of flat, mild-weathered Texas ground.
From Galbraith Perry Rodgers touching down in 1911 to astronauts and U-2 missions — the sky above Del Rio has been a busy place. And it all started with one plane landing in a town that looked up and decided it liked what it saw.
What the marker says
In 1911, eight years after the Wright Brothers' historic flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Galbraith Perry Rodgers landed his plane at Del Rio while on the first transcontinental flight across the United State. The arrival of a plane in Del Rio was a major event then, but it became a common sight in later years. During World War I, the town was a center of aerial patrols along the United State-Mexico Border. In 1919 planes were dispatched to the area in reaction to Pancho Villa's border raids. One pilot stationed here to fly border patrols was Lt. James H. Doolittle, who later gained international attention in World War II. In the 1940s Del Rio was chosen as the site of an Air Base because of the flat terrain and the mild climate. Opened as the first B-26 bombardier school, Laughlin Air Force Base was named in honor of Lt. Jack T. Laughlin, the first pilot from Del Rio killed in action in World War II. Later a pilot training school, it closed after the war. In 1952, through the efforts of local residents, it was reopened. Laughlin has been utilized for Astronaut Training, Strategic Air Command U-2 reconnaissance missions, the development of Air Training Command's undergraduate pilot training mission, and other important innovations.