Description

History of Perrin Field – July 4, 1941, plows and graders and mammoth trucks went to work in Grayson county, Texas, levelling the black soil into what was to become Perrin Field, the first Army Air Force basic flying school to be put into operation after the United States went to war. The first class of aviation cadets arrived at Perrin Field for training December 16, 194!, just a week after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and threw the United States into ,war against the Axis. Named in honor of the Late Lieutenant Colonel Elmer D. Perrin, a native of Boerne, Texas, the field was dedicated with fitting ceremonies February 23, 1942. Since that time the fledgling station has been improved until now it is one of the outstanding basic flying fields of the southwest. Perrin Field’s serious work of training aviation cadets is constant, and the men of Perrin Field carry out their various duties with an earnest purpose that comes from a realization that every job is a part of the national effort of fighting the war. But, in off hours, there is also time for play. The pictures on the pages that follow depict both the work and the play at this basic flying field. Honoree in the naming of Perrin Field is the late Lieutenant Colonel Elmer D. Perrin of Boerne, Texas. Born in Boerne, April 7, 1896, Colonel Perrin enlisted in the United States Army as a private during World War I and served in the 165th Depot Brigade, later transferring to the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps. Commissioned as a second lieutenant July 5, 1918, Colonel Perrin spent the remainder of his life in the interests of aviation. Rated as a command pilot and combat observer, Colonel Perrin was sent to Baltimore, Maryland, in October, 1939, for duty as assistant district supervisor for the Eastern Air Corps Procurement District, as well as Air Corps representative at the Glenn L. Martin Company. He died when an airplane crashed and burned during an acceptance test of a bomber June 21, 1941, near Baltimore.