DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The land under what became one of Texas's most storied air bases was once part of the Santiago del Valle Mexican land grant — out in the Del Valle community, not far from Austin. Then came the Second World War, and everything changed.
The City of Austin purchased three thousand acres and leased it to the federal government, and construction began in May of 1942. But before a single runway went down, homes came out. Churches came out.
Businesses came out. Whatever life had been built on that land made way for what was coming. By late September of that same year, the first units of the 316th Troop Carrier Group had arrived, and the base was up and running as a replacement center for the First Troop Carrier Command — training pilots to move combat troops and supplies wherever the war demanded.
Then in March of 1943, the base got a new name. It was renamed Bergstrom Army Air Field, in honor of Captain John August Earl Bergstrom — Austin's first casualty of the war. He was killed at Clark Field in the Philippines on December 8th, 1941.
The name was shortened to Bergstrom Field in November of 1943. And the crews who trained there? They didn't just sit on the tarmac.
They flew into the invasion of Normandy. Southern France. Holland.
Germany. After the war wound down, the field became Bergstrom Air Force Base, assigned to the Continental Air Command, and its planes took part in the Berlin Airlift of 1948 to 1949. Over the next fifty years, Bergstrom served within both the Strategic Air Command and the Tactical Air Command, sending bombers and reconnaissance aircraft into combat theaters stretching from Korea all the way to Iraq.
In 1968, the 12th Air Force moved its headquarters to a newly completed circular building right there on base — a building the folks around it promptly nicknamed the Roundagon. Now, not every story ends with a bang. Some end with a signature on a commission report.
In 1992, Bergstrom Air Force Base closed, in compliance with the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. And then in 1999, the city that had purchased that land all those decades before converted it into Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The same ground that once launched crews toward Normandy now launches travelers toward everywhere else.
That Santiago del Valle land grant probably didn't see that one coming.
What the marker says
(Bergstrom Air Force Base) Following the U.S. entry into World War II, the Army Air Corps established a base here in the Del Valle community on land once a part of the Santiago del Valle Mexican land grant. The City of Austin purchased 3,000 acres to lease to the federal government for use as an air base. Construction began in May 1942 after the removal of homes, churches and businesses, and the first units of the 316th Troop Carrier Group arrived in late September. The base was a replacement center for the First Troop Carrier Command, training pilots to transport combat troops and supplies. In March 1943, the base was renamed Bergstrom Army Air Field to honor Captain John August Earl Bergstrom, Austin's first casualty of war; he was killed at Clark Field in the Phillipines on December 8, 1941. The base name was shortened to Bergstrom Field in November 1943. Crews from Bergstrom saw duty in the invasions of Normandy, southern France, Holland and Germany. After the war, the air field became Bergstrom Air Force Base, assigned to the Continental Air Command, and planes from here participated in the Berlin Airlift, 1948-49. Over the next 50 years, Bergstrom served as part of both the Strategic Air Command and the Tactical Air Command, sending bombers and reconnaisance aircraft into combat theaters from Korea to Iraq. In 1968, the 12th Air Force moved its headquarters here to a newly completed circular building, nicknamed the "Roundagon." Bergstrom Air Force Base closed in 1992 in compliance with the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, and the city converted it to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in 1999. Texas in World War II, V+60 (2005)