Hunter Field – We’re from Hunter Field, Georgia (PDF)

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Description

 

History of Hunter Field ……. Hunter Field is not old in years, having been dedicated on February 19, 1941. The aggressiveness with which we have forged ahead since our founding and the ability gained through actual experience, has enabled us to improve constantly the methods of training given men stationed at this base. Located in Savannah, Georgia, Hunter Field is a vital unit of the important Third Air Force. The first important Army Air Base constructed under the defense program where the contractor worked on a fixed-fee basis, Hunter Field was “open for business” a short three months after ground was broken for the camp. The civilian airport already on the site was enlarged for military use and a small city sprang from the scrub pine surrounding the field. With this precedent for rapidly accomplishing assigned jobs, personnel of the field has continued to perform routine tasks of training with an efficiency rarely demonstrated at a base scarcely beyond the fledgling stage. Before it became an Army base, Hunter Field was named by the people of Savannah for a native son, Brigadier General Frank O’Driscoll Hunter, now commanding the Eighth Air Force Fighter Command in the European theatre. One of the World War I’s foremost fighter pilots, his exploits earned for him the Distinguished Service Cross with four Oak Leaf Clusters. Not content to rest on his laurels, General Hunter has already received in this war, the Legion of Merit and the Silver Star for accomplishments and heroism. Many Air Fields have contributed greatly to the development of the Army Air Forces. We of Hunter Field have a pleasant memory to carry with us through life for it was here that the Eighth Air Force was born in the spring of 1942. Rapid expansion followed its activation and now the Eighth is playing a major role in the air battle waged over Europe. The superior methods of training employed at Hunter Field have been exemplified by many organizations now in combat areas. Typical is the story of a Bombardment Group formerly stationed here. From Hunter Field the outfit was sent to the Philippines before Pearl Harbor, one of the first bomb groups to go into action in the Pacific. Being without sufficient aircraft after severe losses, pilots, gunners, and mechanics alike discarded their flying togs and functioned as infantrymen. The founding of the Eighth, the courage and heroism demonstrated by individuals whose pre-battle experience at Hunter Field equipped them well for combat, and other more current accomplishments, bring the men of the base a certain pleasure, a pride in performing our duties well. Through the camera glimpses of the base contained in this booklet we hope to show various phases of our activities and to promote an understanding of the feelings we express verbally in “WE’RE FROM HUNTER FIELD.”