DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker out here in DeWitt County tells this story, and I'm going to do it justice. By 1939, the Nazis were threatening world conquest — and the United States looked hard at its military fields and realized something uncomfortable: they couldn't do it alone. Not even close.
The country needed thousands of pilots, and it needed them fast. So the call went out to civilian flying schools, and one of them answered right here in Texas. Down in Cuero, a field was established under the direction of a man named Clyde E.
Brayton. Now, when the marker tells you he was a veteran pilot, it gives you a detail that ought to stop you cold for a moment. His first licenses — issued between 1926 and 1931 — were signed by Orville Wright himself.
Air pioneer Orville Wright, one of the two men who figured out how to get off the ground in the first place. That's the man whose signature Brayton carried into the business of teaching others to fly. Cuero provided the land.
Brayton put in the facilities. And in March of 1941, the first class was enrolled. What followed is one of those stories where the numbers do the talking, and they talk loud.
A staff of five hundred and fifty civilians and a hundred military men. Six thousand, six hundred and eleven students trained. Three hundred and thirty-five thousand hours flown.
The field received awards for safety and for meritorious service. It ran hard and it ran well, until it ceased operating in August of 1944. Now here's where the story gets bigger than just one field in one Texas town.
Favorable flying conditions made Texas the site of seventeen civilian training schools — seventeen — spread across Ballinger, Bonham, Brady, Coleman, Corsicana, Cuero, Dallas, Fort Stockton, Fort Worth, Houston, Stamford, Sweetwater, Paris, Terrell, Uvalde, Vernon, and Wichita Falls. That is a lot of Texas sky getting put to work. And the scale of what those schools fed into?
In 1939, personnel in the United States Army Air Forces stood at twenty-one thousand, five hundred and fifty-six. By 1944, that number had climbed to almost two and a half million. Many of them received their training at civilian schools just like the one Brayton built in Cuero.
But it wasn't just Americans. These installations also trained airmen from Brazil, China, England, France, and Mexico. The Allied victory — when it came — had Texas fingerprints on it.
A man with Orville Wright's signature on his license, a town willing to give up its land, and three hundred and thirty-five thousand hours in the air. That's how a corner of DeWitt County helped decide the fate of the world.
What the marker says
In 1939 when the Nazis threatened world conquest, the United States had immediate need for thousands of pilots -- more than could be trained at military fields alone. Aid was enlisted from civilian flying schools. One field was established in Cuero under direction of Clyde E. Brayton, veteran pilot whose first licenses (1926-1931) were signed by air pioneer Orville Wright. Cuero provided land; Brayton put in facilities and enrolled the first class in March 1941. A staff of 550 civilians and 100 military men trained 6,611 students who flew 335,000 hours. The field received awards for safety and meritorious service. It ceased operating in August 1944. Favorable flying conditions made Texas the site of 17 civilian training schools, located at Ballinger, Bonham, Brady, Coleman, Corsicana, Cuero, Dallas, Fort Stockton, Fort Worth, Houston, Stamford, Sweetwater, Paris, Terrell, Uvalde, Vernon and Wichita Falls. Personnel in the United States Army Air Forces increased from 21,556 in 1939 to almost 2,500,000 in 1944; many received training at civilian schools. These installations also trained airmen for Brazil, China, England, France and Mexico. Their work was an important contribution toward Allied victory.