It’s an honor to be a “Jeep-O!”

Don’t You Want to be a Jeep-O? inquires the headline from an August, 1943 issue of Barksdale’s Bark, the newspaper of Barksdale Field, now Barksdale Air Force Base. The Barksdale Field “Jeep-O” program was officially sanctioned by Base Commander William B. Wright, Jr. earlier that month. By signing up to be a member of the “Jeep-O” program and affixing to their windshield a yellow sticker designating this membership in Barksdale’s share–a–ride club, even a civilian with no special skills or tools (besides an automobile!) could help the GIs at Barksdale during wartime. This assistance was critical because with World War II raging overseas, the personnel strength had doubled at Barksdale Field, and local public transportation was bursting at the seams.

Every driver who pledged to give a soldier a ride received a Jeep-O sticker for their car windshield. Wherever a Jeep-O driver happened to be headed, if it was in the same general direction of an on-base soldier wanting to get to town, or a married soldier trying to return home from the base during rush hour when there weren’t enough seats on city buses, a mere “civie” or civilian, (as well as other soldiers or official military chauffeurs with empty seats) could do their part and offer a ride. Soldiers were not allowed to hitchhike, but they were allowed to take a ride if offered. The yellow stickers, therefore, were as much for the benefit of the driver as for the passenger. The yellow “Jeep-O” sticker in the windshield reminded the driver to stop and offer their extra seat.

The Jeep-O programs began in Alabama for soldiers at Army Fort McClellan, thanks to the suggestion of some solders and with the organizing efforts of the local Kiwanis Club. Within a year, the idea had spread to 22 states. Starting May 24, 1943, National Jeep-O Week was observed in all 48 states. As for the origin of the name, the “Jeep” in “Jeep-O” appears to be referring to both the soldier and the vehicle in which he could ride. The word "jeep" was used as early as World War I as U.S. Army slang for new uninitiated recruits and by Army mechanics to refer to new unproven vehicles. It wasn’t until 1945 that the first Jeep-branded product launched.

Signs ordered by Commander Wright were placed at the gates to Barksdale, reminding motorists that “a lift is a boost.” Not only would a ride help soldiers get to work or home for supper on time, it would also literally keep them from sweating out the wait in long lines for the bus during the sweltering Louisiana heat. The Barksdale’s Bark on October 30 of 1943 said, “Nothing short of 100 percent participation will give soldiers the break they deserve.”

A “Letter to the Editor” of the Barksdale’s Bark in September of 1943 was not so sanguine. Starting with humor then moving into shaming, a “Brooklyn Jeep,” a fictional GI from Brooklyn, NY, wrote a complaint letter to the editor with exaggerated Brooklyn “speech”. Referring to civilian drivers or “Civies,” he stated, “dose guys and gals could be the real heroes of dis war if dey’d only loosen up and share a little space in their golden chariots…” then moves on to a bit of shaming. “You see, Ed [Editor], if the Southern hospitality was what it’s cracked up to be, a lot of us jeeps could go as far as the gate, be picked up by the Civies, and consequently there would be more room on the busses [sic] for the udder guys.”

The “Brooklyn Jeep” really brought home his point by stating the indisputable tragedy of wartime. “Some of us guys won’t come back once we hit the udder side. The least the Civies can do is to exchange a ride in their chariots for a life that might be lost so that they and their chariots can be safe in the future.” As the Barksdale Bark had stated at the very beginning of the Jeep-O program, “It’s an honor to be a ‘Jeep-O!’”

If you have any information, stories, or photos about the Jeep-O program at Barksdale or other local efforts to help out servicemembers during WWII, we would love to see them or to copy them, with permission, to add to the History Center’s research collection. Please note, the History Center remains closed while our new exhibits are completed, but watch our Facebook page or library website homepage for updates at www.bossierlibrary.org. You can also visit the website to use our online resources. From the homepage, choose Research from the options along the top, and then choose History and Genealogy. You may call us at (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

For other local history facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• An example of a “Jeeper” decal to designate a motorist in a “Jeeper” or “Jeep-O” club who will give a ride to soldiers in communities around Army bases and airfields during WWII. Illustration from the Leaf-Chronicle of Clarksville TN, Jul 7, 1943.
• Clarissa Warren, first civilian to officially join the “Barksdale Jeep-O” club and is presented with a Jeeper badge by Col. William B. Wright Jr. - The Barksdale Bark 04 Sep 1943

Article by: Pam Carlisle

The Barksdale Literacy School in WWII

 In the summer of 1944, Allied forces were fighting some of their fiercest or most daring battles, while also reaping some of their most auspicious victories. On June 5, Allied troops entered Rome in the afternoon, and it became the first capital of the Axis Powers to fall. Meanwhile in Normandy, the following day, June 6, was D-Day, the amphibious landing of troops in northern France, opening the Western Front. In July, the Allies pushed inland. In the sweltering summer days of August-September 1944, Allied infantry troops won the bloody battle for the port of Brest in Brittany, and in another amphibious landing in France, the major ports of Marseille and Toulon were reclaimed, easing the Allies’ supply crisis. Meanwhile in the Pacific Theater, Saipan fell in June after a fearsome banzai charge; a decisive clash of carriers in the Philippine Sea crippled Japanese air power, and by August, Guam was recaptured.

In the summer of 1944 at Barksdale Army Air Field, as Barksdale was known prior to the creation of the United States Air Force on September 18, 1947, 35 or more enlisted men were fighting a brave battle of their own, proving they had the basic readiness to be soldiers by attending what the air field newspaper called “elementary school for soldiers who can neither read nor write.” At that time, one of Barksdale’s missions was as to serve as one of the Army Air Corps “replacement training centers”. These centers provided training for newly-enlisted Air Corps soldiers that was not yet specialized for a specific assignment.

Earlier in 1944, President Roosevelt had declared the US Army and Navy were faced with a “grave manpower shortage,” desperately in need of more able-bodied combat replacements. To help meet that shortage, Roosevelt asked the selective service (“the draft”) to revisit service deferments, whether for occupational, dependency, age, or physical or mental fitness requirements. For the same purpose, Chairman Andrew J. May of the U.S. House Military Affairs Committee argued that among other reclassifications, the army “should quit rejecting men because of illiteracy. Men who are illiterate can still be sharpshooters.”

In January of that year, Major Isaac N. Carr, preinduction officer of the Army’s 4th Service Command headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, announced in a speech to junior college officials, that was covered by the Associated Press, that the United States had 341,000 physically fit men of service age who were functionally illiterate, meaning, at that time, that their reading and writing skills were at a fourth-grade level or below. Carr illustrated this number by saying that was enough physically-able men to make up more than 20 Army divisions.

If the number 341,000 for men whose only barrier to service at that moment was that they read at a fourth-grade (or below) level sounds inordinately high, keep in mind that, although all states had a compulsory education law on the books by 1918, those laws were not consistently enforced across the country until well into the 1930s. That time frame would cover the school years of WWII enlistees. In addition, quality schools and trained teachers were still not available to many African American students in the south during the school years of those enlistees. For example, a high school for African American students in Bossier City did not open until the beginning of the 1940s.

To rectify this deficiency, Army training units were called upon to provide literacy instruction. The Saturday July 1, 1944, issue of the Barksdale’s Bark newspaper announced that “an elementary school for soldiers who can neither read nor write will be started by Base S-3 [the operations and training office] shortly.” The article shared that 35 enlisted men had been assigned by their commanding officers to the school already, and that classes would be held 3 times a day, five days a week. Students were required to attend one of the daily sessions in the school room in the commissary building.

More details about a literacy class were announced in the Bark on Saturday, July 29, 1944. This time it said the classes would be offered in the “Kindergarten building.” This was likely the base’s brand-new preschool for children through the age of 5. The article further stated that “Commanding officers of all units are cooperating with Base S-3 in getting men to attend the classes,” and that “the latest pamphlets from the Armed Institute have been procured for instructional purposes.”

This pamphlet referred to for the literacy classes at Barksdale likely referred to Technical Manual No. 21-500, also known as the “Private Pete” books. These reading primers followed along with solider Private Pete and all that he’d likely encounter in his day-to-day life in the Army. (The Navy had their own booklets, featuring “Sailor Sam.”) These stories adhered to the same basic format and learn-to-read formula as the ubiquitous Dick and Jane readers that young children in school at the time were using. The article also named the teacher of the literacy classes, Mrs. Mary E. Laurent, wife of Lt. Harry Laurent, Jr. assistant S-1 (personnel) officer at Barksdale. Mrs. Laurent, who “offered her services as teacher of the classes,” was introduced to Bark readers as a graduate of Muskingum College in Ohio, and an experienced teacher of English. Both Laurents were from Ohio and had attended Muskingum.

Being singled out by one’s commanding officer to attend classes in a preschool building, with text books modeled after children’s readers, Dick and Jane, could sound like excruciating punishment. Many WWII veterans’ own stories of being able to “go back in time” and learn to read and write, suggest appreciation for the opportunity, however. As for the Laurents, they were married 69 years and lived around the world while Mr. Laurent was an industrial psychologist, and retired in Hendersonville, North Carolina. They continued to value access to education, by establishing a scholarship for students in Henderson County, and endowing a department chair in Psychology at their Alma Mater, Muskingum College, now University.

The Bossier Parish Libraries History Center in the Bossier Central Library complex remains closed while our new exhibits are installed. However, we are continuing to share history in a variety of ways. You can explore many of our collections on our website, www.bossierlibrary.org. Look for the History and Genealogy page under Resources. Feel free to contact History Center staff by phone or email for assistance. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org.

Our next meeting of World War II’s Day, a monthly coffee and discussion program on a variety of WWII-related topics, will be Tuesday, August 11th at 10:30 AM in the Bossier Central Library Complex’s large meeting room. Because August 6, 2026, is the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, Dr. Cran Lucas, Emeritus Professor of Biological Sciences at LSU Shreveport, will present "Hiroshima and the Aftermath". We hope you can make it, and stay tuned for the re-opening date of the History Center and its new exhibits!

Images: 

• Sample page (32) from U.S. War Department Technical Manual 21-500 “Army Reader” May 14, 1943, a.k.a. “Private Pete.” https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1048&context=stu_1210th_fort_ontario
• Mary Evelyn Cather Laurent, from Muskingum Update, Spring 2009

Article by: Pam Carlisle

Thousands Gathered to Witness Beach Landing in Bossier

The east bank of the Red River in Bossier City, a draw now for leisurely entertainment and shopping, attracted crowds for a very different reason 81 years ago today. On Sunday afternoon, June 10, 1945, the shoreline near the Texas Street Bridge came alive with the clatter of machine-gun fire and the roar of fighter planes, as a battle unfolded. But Bossier City hadn’t become the latest hotzone of World War II. The fighting was simulated, meant to give spectators a glimpse of America’s military in action and highlight the importance of financially supporting those who were facing enemies abroad. Although victory in Europe had been declared a month earlier, the war in the Pacific continued.

War bond drives, or loan drives as they were also called, were a critical aspect of U.S. policy during the Second World War. They helped raise funds that the government used to buy equipment and supplies for the war effort, and they helped foster a sense of patriotism among citizenry by providing a means to contribute to that effort. There were eight such drives between November 1942 and December 1945. The mock invasion held in Bossier City was part of number seven.

In the days leading up to the event, local newspaper stories heightened interest by telling of the military machinery and maneuvers that would be on display and the guests who would attend, including Louisiana Governor Jimmie Davis and movie star of that era, Robert Young. Personnel would also be present to sell bonds. In an article on June 9, Barksdale’s Bark, the newspaper of Barksdale Field – as the base was then called – set the scene: “One hundred Barksdale GIs, armed with rifles and machine guns, will be disgorged from nine Higgins boats tomorrow, and behind a smoke screen, will plunge into an inferno of explosions, … belching flame throwers, roaring dive bombers and wheezing bazooka shells to secure a beachhead,” the paper stated. According to the article, Barksdale not only supplied the troops, but also much of the equipment, including jeeps, walkie-talkies and blank ammunition. The Higgins boats, named for Andrew Higgins, founder of the New Orleans company that built them, were brought by truck from Texas.

The “Red River Bond Invasion Show,” as the event was referred to in some local newspapers, got underway before a crowd estimated to number between 25,000 and 30,000 attendees, gathered along both sides of the river and on the Texas Street Bridge. Prior to the start of the invasion, Young addressed those assembled and “placed decided emphasis on the need to buy war bonds,” according to an article the following day in The Shreveport Journal. Navy Lieutenant Joe McMeel, survivor of a bombing attack on the aircraft carrier USS Franklin just four months prior, spoke as well.

After the guest speakers, the invasion commenced. The Shreveport Journal article of June 11 described what took place: “As the men advanced to establish their beachhead, smoke bombs … were set off, providing continuous protection to the men landing on the shore and to those moving upward on the beach. Even as the men advanced, the … P51s (fighter aircraft) continued to come over, providing a cover for them and blasting an opening … to aid the men in their move forward.” This must have been quite a sight to see on Red River! Soldiers stormed ashore and scrambled up the east bank with the objective of planting a flag at a predetermined point in “enemy” territory. Once this was achieved, victory was declared.

Persons who purchased bonds at the event and in the days just before the event were allowed rides on the Higgins boats. Young, who years later would achieve fame on tv in shows like “Father Knows Best” and “Marcus Welby M.D.,” signed autographs for those who bought bonds of $1000 or more. The June 11 article in The Shreveport Journal states that approximately $21,000 in bonds were sold during the afternoon’s show. That amount combined with money from bond sales across the country during the seven weeks of the Seventh War Loan Drive helped achieve a final total of more than $26 billion. Yes, billion.

For one Sunday afternoon in June 1945, Bossier’s east bank became a stage, offering a more forgiving glimpse into the brutal beach landings at places such as Normandy and Iwo Jima. For a moment, the crowd had a visual reminder that freedom isn’t free.

If you have any photos or other information relating to the history of Bossier City or Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call us to learn more. We are currently closed for renovations, but can still be reached by phone at (318) 746-7717, and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• 7th War Loan poster/Wikimedia Commons
• Beach landing on Red River's east bank/Barksdale's Bark, June 16, 1945

Articlel by: Kevin Flowers

Disappearance of Flight Carrying Barksdale General Still A Mystery

Throughout history there have been many intriguing and mysterious disappearances that remain unsolved such as Amelia Earhart, the crew of the Mary Celeste, the Lost Colony of Roanoke, and big band leader Glenn Miller. One such disappearance has ties to Barksdale Air Force Base, and, although not as well-known as these more famous cases, it nonetheless is still mystifying 75 years after it happened.

In early 1951, the U.S. Air Force’s Strategic Air Command (SAC) established the 7th Air Division and assigned it to England to help counter the growing threat from the Soviet Union. SAC bombers stationed there could serve as a deterrent to Soviet hostilities. Barksdale’s Vice Commander Brigadier General Paul Cullen was chosen to lead the division and oversee its operations.

Born in 1901 in Peru, Cullen later moved to California and joined the military at a time when aviation was still developing. According to his official Air Force biography, he entered service as a flying cadet in June, 1928. Only a year earlier, Charles Lindbergh had become the first person to fly solo, nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. Advancing through the ranks, Cullen commanded the Air Force Photo Unit during Operation Crossroads, the atom bomb tests conducted just after World War II, and served as commander of the 311th Reconnaissance Wing at SAC headquarters in Maryland in the late 1940s. Newspaper accounts state that he was considered the foremost expert at the time on strategic reconnaissance, which involved using high-altitude photography to collect intelligence on enemy targets. It was while serving as vice-commander that Cullen boarded the flight which would carry him and 52 others into the unknown.

The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, a heavy-lift cargo aircraft, departed Walker Air Force Base in Roswell, New Mexico on Wednesday, March 21, 1951 and landed at Barksdale late that afternoon where Brig. Gen. Cullen and his staff joined other passengers already aboard, which included four high-ranking SAC officers, as well as specialists in various air defense operations. Built to haul troops and equipment such as tanks, guns and trucks, Globemasters had a reputation for giving bumpy rides. According to a story in the aviation periodical Flying Magazine, the Globemaster was an aircraft which “tended to shake a lot, even in calm skies, earning it the nickname ‘Old Shaky.’”

It was in these somewhat uncomfortable conditions that the flight left Barksdale Wednesday evening and made a refueling stop at an Air Force base in Maine before heading out Thursday, March 22 over the vast North Atlantic Ocean. England was its destination, where General Cullen would take charge of the 7th. Checking in with weather ships along the route that were tasked with gathering meteorological data of the upper atmosphere and ocean’s surface, the flight’s radio operator reported the plane’s position Thursday evening as being approximately 800 miles southwest of the coast of Ireland.

By Friday morning, March 23, it became evident that the flight had encountered trouble. According to an article in The Shreveport Journal from that afternoon, no further communications had been received from the plane, so a search of the aircraft’s last known position was initiated by both U.S. and British forces. Nothing was found. There was a brief glimmer of hope Saturday morning, when a B-29 pilot sighted possible life rafts and other items approximately 450 miles west of the Irish coast, but a search of that area also found nothing. The leader of the search effort is quoted in The Shreveport Journal of

March 24 as saying attempts to find the plane would continue “as long as we have any hope of finding survivors.” Those attempts, which The Shreveport Times of Tuesday, March 27 says covered 25,000 square miles of ocean and constituted one of the largest rescue operations in history, spanned a week and were halted on March 30 before being restarted four days later. Ultimately, only small pieces of charred debris and a small briefcase were discovered. No trace of the crew or passengers was ever found.

The incident was consigned to the pages of history until it was revived in two articles in The Shreveport Times, the first in 2011 and a follow-up in 2015. Both articles were written by former Times staff member John Andrew Prime, and in them he mentions obtaining an accident report about the flight from the Air Force which offers interesting details such as a weather ship picking up a radio report of a fire on board the aircraft and the plane being intact when it struck the water. The report also states that the Globemaster carried equipment such as life rafts, life vests and emergency radios.

Despite the passage of time, answers to the mystery of what happened to Cullen and the others haven’t been forthcoming. Was the flight sabotaged? Could rough seas have swamped the plane after it came down, sending it to the bottom of the Atlantic? Did the Russians, as some have speculated, snatch the men? The website for the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives states that “… it was revealed that Soviet submarines and surface vessels were active in the area.” The website also notes, “Due to their expertise in nuclear and other defense matters, Cullen and the other men on the airplane would have been an intelligence windfall to the Soviets.”

Perhaps one day, we’ll know their fate. Perhaps a long-secret document will come to light that will provide some sense of closure for the men’s families. For now, the incident remains, like so many stories of the past, unexplained.

If you have any information relating to the history of Bossier City and Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the material to its research collection. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open Monday - Friday 9-6, and Saturday by appointment. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images:

• Brigadier General Paul Cullen/courtesy United States Air Force 
• C-124 Globemaster II/courtesy United States Air Force
• The Shreveport Journal headline/March 23, 1951

Article by: Kevin Flowers

Space Shuttle Columbia Gives Residents Glimpse of the Future

On a frigid Tuesday morning, April 6, 1982, there appeared in the sky over Bossier City a unique object, clad in gleaming white tiles and riding atop a modified 747 jumbo jet. Although not unexpected, its arrival was still a source of wonder and offered a glimpse into the future of space travel.

Columbia, the first vehicle in NASA’s new space shuttle program, was coming to Barksdale Air Force Base. Having recently completed its third orbital mission, it was being carried home to Cape Canaveral in Florida from White Sands, New Mexico, and its “air taxi” needed to refuel. Local newspaper accounts say Barksdale was the logical choice for this task thanks to its long runway and its location approximately halfway between New Mexico and Florida.

Preparations for the shuttle’s arrival began days in advance as a special jet fuel was brought by train for the 747, and Barksdale officials made arrangements for public viewing along the runway. Some schools allowed parents to sign their children out to witness the historic event. An editorial in The Shreveport Times on April 6 perhaps best summed up the importance of the occasion: “Would you like to have seen the Wright brothers’ first aircraft, knowing that it was the forerunner of the awe-inspiring flying machines that have now become routine in the 20th century. The space-age equivalent of such an experience will be available here today.”

This sentiment was not lost on the crowd, estimated to number between 60,000 and 100,000 people, that gathered at Barksdale. Braving cold and windy conditions, they watched with anticipation as the 747 came into view and touched down at about 10:30 a.m. with Columbia riding piggyback. “The spectators were lined up on the runway for hundreds of yards behind the rope barrier,” states a Times article from the following day. “Though the space shuttle was 1,000 feet away, almost everybody had a clear view …” And hopefully that view included an understanding that Columbia represented the nation’s hopes for attaining new goals in space exploration. For the first time, we had a craft that could be reused in our efforts to learn more about the grandeur of the heavens.

While the jumbo jet took on 20,000 gallons of fuel, it also got a change of pilot and copilot for the final leg of the trip to Florida. For two hours, Columbia’s presence graced the runway, as cameras captured on film what an article in the Bossier Press on April 8 described as “another great step in the history that will be written for our grandchildren to look back on.” At 12:30 p.m., the jet took off, carrying the shuttle home where new missions awaited.

On another chilly morning in Bossier City, February 1, 2003, there was very different news of Columbia. Twenty-three years ago this month, the country learned that the shuttle and its crew of seven were gone. Columbia broke apart and disintegrated over Central Louisiana and East Texas returning to Earth from its 28th mission. While investigators sought a cause for the tragedy, Barksdale served as a collection site for the scattered remains of Columbia. The Shreveport Times reported on February 5 that debris was being stored in a hangar on the flight line.

As I watched media coverage, I thought about the shuttle’s visit to Bossier. I thought about how that splendid technical achievement now lay in pieces just yards from where it had been proudly shown to the crowd. And I thought about Shuttle Challenger, remembering where I was in 1986 when I heard the news of its explosion. While researching this article, I learned that Challenger’s commander Dick Scobee was at Barksdale that day in April with Columbia. He was copilot of the 747 during the trip from Bossier City to Florida.

The inquiry ultimately determined that damage to Columbia’s left wing, sustained during launch, led to the disaster. Within a year, President Bush called for the shuttle program to be retired. The last mission was flown in 2011. NASA’s new space program Artemis is underway, with the goal of returning astronauts to the moon, perhaps as soon as 2027. This progress gives us reason to look back and recall with gratitude that moment when we were allowed to witness history.

If you have any photos or other information relating to the history of Bossier City or Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open Monday through Friday 9-6, and Saturday by appointment. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• Headline from The Shreveport Journal, April 7, 1982
• Shuttle Columbia atop the 747 jumbo jet at Barksdale AFB/photo by Jack Barham/The Shreveport Journal

Article by: Kevin Flowers

Combat Skyspot in SE Asia: The B-52s On-the-Ground Advantage

Operational since December of 1954, the B-52 Stratofortress bomber aircraft and its distinctive hulking silhouette are familiar, over 70 years Advantage, to anyone living near North Louisiana’s Barksdale Air Force Base. When the B-52 entered service, the Air Force’s Strategic Air Command (SAC) intended it for use in the “Cold War” to deter the expanding and modernizing military of the Soviet Union and its increasing nuclear capabilities. In the 1960s, projects to replace the B-52 with a new bomber had been aborted or scrapped after disappointing results. With the escalating situation in Southeast Asia, B-52 bombers were modified to continue as the US Air Force’s main bomber for eventual combat missions in the Vietnam War. Not all of these modifications were to the actual aircraft itself, but also to its “team.” The B-52s needed some extra help on the ground, and that help came in the form of radar technicians. The 1st Combat Evaluation Group (1CEVG), headquartered at Barksdale, stepped up in a secret mission named Combat Skyspot. 

 

On August 1, 1961, SAC's 1st Radar Bomb Scoring (RBS) Group at Carswell AFB (Fort Worth) had merged with the 3908th Strategic Standardization Group to form the 1st Combat Evaluation Group (1CEVG) at Barksdale Air Force Base. This new organization had the dual mission of providing radar bomb scoring services as well as standardization and evaluation services, filling the constant need for challenging training and testing scenarios. In the mid-1960s, 1CEVG personnel at Barksdale modified SAC RBS equipment to make it capable of directing aircraft at extended distances to the precise release point over a target. These modifications were important because though the B-52 was an especially deadly weapon in itself, its accuracy fell short. The aircraft’s crew needed a way to meet the challenges of accurately finding and distinguishing points and features on the ground from the air, especially with bad weather or other obstructions to visibility. 

After several months of testing, Barksdale’s 1CEVG ground-directed bombing (GDB) system was deployed to southeast Asia from various SAC RBS sites under the name Combat Skyspot. The Combat Skyspot sites were maintained and operated for more than ten years by SAC personnel on temporary duty assignments. During deployment, the forward area commander had control of the system, but overall command and administrative control remained under SAC’s 1CEVG at Barksdale. 

With its integrated combination of radar, computer, and communications systems, each GDB radar station provided crucial route corrections as the bomber approached the target, and then designated when to release its bombs. The system was so effective that the radar stations and their technicians became prized targets to hostile forces. Over 3,000 Combat Evaluation Group personnel manned ground radar sites in South Vietnam, Thailand and Laos, 24 hours a day from March 1966 to August 1973.

In November 2007, a monument to all the 1st Combat Evaluation Group personnel killed in SE Asia was installed at Barksdale’s 8th Air Force Museum. Featured on the tall, middle panel of the stone triptych was the group’s last and deadliest enemy attack of the Vietnam War, occurring in Laos in March 1968 at the Lima-85 site. North Vietnamese fighters scaled the mountain, atop which sat the radar site and brutally killed 12 men. The men’s names are carved in the panel. 

Special space on the panel was given to Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. "Dick" Etchberger, who posthumously received an Air Force Distinguished Cross for saving the lives of at least two of the men at the Lima-85 site. After 11 of the 19 members of the radar crew on the mountain were killed, Etchberger tended to the wounded and fought off the advancing North Vietnamese troops for hours, even though he had little or no combat training, until a rescue helicopter arrived. Braving gunfire, he helped load the wounded onto slings to be lifted into an aircraft hovering overhead. After finally boarding himself, Etchberger was killed after an enemy soldier below fired his AK-47 at the helicopter.

The Combat Skyspot Memorial at Barksdale read, in part:

During their 90-month period of service in Southeast Asia, Combat Skyspot crew directed over 300,000 USAF, Navy, Marine and RVN re-supply, reconnaissance, rescue and tactical air missions as well as 75 percent of all B-52 strikes. Over 3,000 men of CEG manned ground radar sites in South Vietnam, Thailand and Laos 24 hours a day from March 1966 until August 1973. This memorial is dedicated in memory to the nineteen members of CEG who gave their lives in this effort. 

The dedication of the monument was not held until June of 2008, to coincide with a reunion of former members of the 1st CEVG and their families. Family members of those memorialized were also in attendance. An official Air Force photo shows Master Sergeant Etchberger’s brother, together with one of the men saved by Etchberger, laying a wreath in front of the monument. 

Because the operations were classified, the details of the technician’s deaths were not revealed, or properly honored, until the missions became declassified. The monument was rededicated in 2012, when Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. Etchberger's Air Force Distinguished Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor for heroism, and Master Sgt. James H. Calfee's Bronze Star was upgraded to a Silver Star for gallantry in action. Family members were again present, but just as importantly, members of the community attended to honor their sacrifices.  Bossier City’s Airline High School Viking Band played for the occasion at the museum, which that same year had been renamed the Barksdale Global Power Museum. 

If you have stories or photographs of people connected to SAC at Barksdale, or have served our community in any capacity, please visit or contact us at the History Center. We are located at 7204 Hutchison Drive, Bossier City, LA and are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org For other local history facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• Combat Sky Spot Area of Effectiveness. With a maximum range of about 230 miles, COMBAT SKY SPOT radars covered most areas of interest, with the notable exception of northern North Vietnam. The installation of a modified COMBAT SKY SPOT site on LS 85 in 1967 covered this gap. (U.S. Air Force photo)
• A photo of Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. Etchberger taken in an unspecified location in 1968. USAF photo

Article by: Pam Carlisle 

“Invasion” Force Hits Bossier’s East Bank During World War II

The Bossier side of the Red River was the scene of a unique event 80 years ago. Soldiers dashed out of boats amid billowing smoke screens and hurried towards the east bank. Planes fired on enemy positions, as the clatter of machine guns echoed along the river, and medics tended the wounded. No, war hadn’t come to Bossier City. The fighting was simulated, meant to give spectators a glimpse of America’s fighting forces in action and encourage the support of those forces by the purchase of war bonds.

War bond drives, or war loan drives as they were also called, were a critical aspect of U.S. policy during the Second World War. They helped raise funds that the government used to buy equipment and supplies for the war effort, and they helped foster a sense of patriotism among citizenry by providing a means to contribute to that effort. There were eight such drives between November 1942 and December 1945. The mock invasion held in Bossier City on Sunday afternoon, June 10, 1945, was part of number seven.

In the days leading up to the event, local newspaper stories heightened interest by telling of the military machinery and maneuvers that would be on display and the guests who would attend, including Louisiana Governor Jimmie Davis and movie star of that era, Robert Young. Personnel would be present to sell bonds. In an article on June 9, Barksdale’s Bark, the newspaper of Barksdale Field – as the base was then called - depicted the upcoming event. “One hundred Barksdale GIs, armed with rifles and machine guns, will be disgorged from nine Higgins boats tomorrow, and behind a smoke screen, will plunge into an inferno of explosions, … belching flame throwers, roaring dive bombers and wheezing bazooka shells to secure a beachhead,” the paper stated. According to the article, Barksdale supplied the troops who would go ashore and much of the equipment to be used, including jeeps, walkie-talkies and blank ammunition. The Higgins boats, named for Andrew Higgins, founder of the New Orleans company that built them, were brought by truck from Texas.

The “Red River Bond Invasion Show,” as the event was referred to in some local newspapers, got underway before a crowd estimated to number between 25,000 and 30,000 spectators that had gathered along both sides of the river and on the Texas Street bridge. Prior to the start of the invasion, Young addressed those assembled and “placed decided emphasis on the need to buy war bonds,” according to an article the following day in The Shreveport Journal. Navy Lieutenant Joe McMeel, survivor of a bombing attack on the aircraft carrier USS Franklin just four months earlier, spoke as well and reminded the crowd that although victory had been secured in Europe, the war in the Pacific continued.

After the guest speakers, the invasion commenced. The Shreveport Journal article of June 11 described the scene: “As the men advanced to establish their beachhead, smoke bombs … were set off, providing continuous protection to the men landing on the shore and to those moving upward on the beach. Even as the men advanced, the … P51s (fighter aircraft) continued to come over, providing a cover for them and blasting an opening … to aid the men in their move forward.” This must have been quite a sight to see on Red River! Once the objective of planting a flag in enemy territory was achieved, the invasion ended.

Persons who purchased bonds at the event and in the days just prior to the event were allowed rides on the Higgins boats. Young, who years later would achieve fame on tv in shows like “Father Knows Best” and “Marcus Welby M.D.,” signed autographs for those who bought bonds of $1000 or more. The June 11 article in the Shreveport Journal states that approximately $21,000 in bonds were sold during the afternoon’s show. That amount combined with money from bond sales across the country during the seven weeks of the Seventh War Loan Drive helped achieve a final total of more than $26 billion. Yes, billion.

For one Sunday afternoon in the summer of 1945, Bossier’s east bank became a stage, offering a more forgiving glimpse into the brutal beach landings at places such as Normandy, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. For a moment, the crowd had a visual reminder that freedom isn’t free.

If you have any photos or other information relating to the history of Bossier City or Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• 7th War Loan poster/Wikimedia Commons
• The Planters Press headline, June 7, 1945/Newspapers.com
• Boat landings on Bossier's east bank/Barksdale's Bark, June 16, 1945

Article by: Kevin Flowers

When Barksdale AFB helped to “Build a Better Bubble”

It’s now officially hurricane season. Here in northwest Louisiana, it’s also thunderstorm, tornado, and flash flood season. However, over the years we’ve been spared some catastrophic weather despite dire and urgent predictions. Major snowstorms that were predicted here this past winter had Louisianians as far south as New Orleans in real-life snow globe scenes, while up here we saw nary a snowflake. Other severe storms have bounded us in nearly all directions, while leaving us unscathed.

If you believe the local legends, we owe those unforeseen clear skies to “the Barksdale Bubble,” a mythical force field that pops up to protect Barksdale Air Force Base, and by extension, the Shreveport-Bossier area. A report done by KSLA News in April, 2021 said they could not track down the absolute origin of this legend, but posits it became common local folklore with the advent of Doppler radar at the Shreveport airport in 1995. The resulting colored real-time radar images in local weather reports made the ‘bubble’ visible, when viewers could see the most ominous colors swirling just around Shreveport-Bossier. Starting in the 2000’s, the station argued, social media made the “Barksdale Bubble” moniker truly ubiquitous.

In the mid-20th century, well before social media, there was another “Bubble” with a Barksdale connection. Contributing Editor Maj. Fred Meurer, USAF featured the phenomenon in the April 1975 Air Force Magazine. He straightaway explained his concept of a “Bubble” as the command, control and communications network otherwise known as the Tactical Air Control System (TACS). The article’s title was announced by the teaser, “Six individual improvement measures are under way to give commanders real-time tactical information that would be essential in large-scale operations, either in Europe or elsewhere. Piece by piece, TAC is…BUILDING A BETTER BUBBLE.”

Both SAC and TAC were founded in 1946, along with the third pillar of modern air power, the Air Defense Command. The Strategic Air Command (SAC) was founded to deter nuclear warfare by making the threat of U.S. retaliation credible and ever-present, with the hope of “winning the war,” before it’s even begun. Tactical Air Command (TAC) was founded to compliment Strategic Air Command’s approach of threatening to deliver a nuclear onslaught with the tactical role of fighting limited wars with conventional arms. One of the six components that Major Meurer said was building a better “bubble” under TAC was the Air Support Radar Team (ASRT), known during its use in Southeast Asia (including Vietnam and Laos) as “Combat Sky Spot.”

Colonel James W. Crabb , who at the time was Executive Officer at Hq. 1st Combat Evaluation Group (SAC) at Barksdale Air Force Base, wrote a letter to the editor that was published in the July 1975 issue of Air Force Magazine to make sure that SAC, and specifically the First Combat Evaluation Group (1CEVG) at Barksdale, got its due.

On 1 August 1961, SAC's 1st Radar Bomb Scoring (RBS) Group at Carswell AFB (Fort Worth) merged with the 3908th Strategic Standardization Group to form the 1st Combat Evaluation Group at Barksdale. This new organization had the dual mission of providing radar bomb scoring services as well as standardization and evaluation services, filling the constant need for challenging training and testing scenarios.

In the mid-1960s, 1CEVG personnel at Barksdale modified SAC RBS equipment to make it capable of directing aircraft at extended distances to the precise release point over the target. After several months of testing, this ground-directed bombing system was deployed to southeast Asia from various SAC RBS sites, maintained and operated for more than ten years by SAC personnel on temporary duty assignments (TDY). During deployment, the forward area commander had control of the system, but overall command and administrative control remained under SAC’s 1CEVG at Barksdale.

Combat Skyspot was the Air Force’s ground-directed bombing (GDB) operation in the Vietnam War. Combat Skyspot's command guidance of B-52s and tactical fighters and bombers at night or in bad weather was used for aerial bombing of a variety of targets. Using a combination radar/computer/communications system in Southeast Asia, a typical bombing mission had an air command post turn over control of the mission to the radar station. The station provided corrections as the bomber approached the target and designated when to release its bombs.

In writing his letter to the editor of the Air Force Magazine, Barksdale’s Col. James Crabb wanted to be sure that the personnel who manned the radar systems, and support personnel were recognized. He especially want to laud the Air Force’s auto-tracking radar technicians, who in most cases had World War II era vacuum tube-style radars to maintain. He wrote, “I have personally seen them work twenty-seven hours straight, grab a two-hour nap in the corner, and return to duty to place the bomb in the box.”

If you have stories or photographs of people connected to SAC at Barksdale, or have served our community in any capacity, please visit or contact us at the History Center. We are located at 7204 Hutchison Drive, Bossier City, LA and are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org   For other local history facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• Insignia of the 1^st Combat Evaluation Group of the Strategic Air Command.
• Col. James W. Crabb. Photo accompanied the announcement of his assignment as the Deputy Commander for Maintenance for the 416th Bomb Wing at Griffiss AFB in Rome NY, in the Daily Sentinel, Rome, New York, Aug 17, 1977.

Article by: Pam Carlisle

Barksdale Provided Training to Help Frenchmen Reclaim Homeland

Eighty-five years ago this month, France officially surrendered to the Germans following the Nazi invasion of the country in 1940. But while flags emblazoned with the Nazi swastika flew over Paris, there were those who vowed that Hitler’s forces would not long remain on French soil. And Barksdale Field, as the base was then known, helped keep that promise.

Beginning in May 1944, young Frenchmen started arriving at Barksdale to train as pilots, gunners, navigators, and bombardiers. They carried with them the hopes of a nation desperate to oust the invaders. In the coming weeks and months, others arrived. They were part of a larger contingent of French cadets, eventually totaling approximately 4,000, that came from areas outside occupied France for training at airfields across the United States. The goal: to equip them with the skills necessary to help reclaim their homeland. They would be known as the Free French Air Force and, according to a September 2019 article in the magazine France-Amerique, the men were quite surprised by life in the U.S. “They couldn’t believe their eyes,” the article states. “After the hardships of war, they discovered an affluent America filled with Coca-Cola, hamburgers, drive-in theaters, and boogie-woogie music.”

The Frenchmen who came to Barksdale received a warm welcome. The Shreveport Times of May 7, 1944, contains a story of the first arrivals being feted with a party at the home of Centenary College language professor, Dr. E.L. Ford. Although, according to the story, some of the men spoke no English, that didn’t prove a hinderance. “Once at the Ford home, … where a number of persons who spoke French were present and also a group of girls from the French club at Centenary, the men … in bits of French and English strongly expressed their delight at being here,” the story states. “They like ‘cokes’… and are in awe of our food.” I wasn’t able to find specific information about how the language barrier was overcome during their training at the airfield.

As the parties and welcoming faded into memory and the men’s training began, a seriousness took hold, reminding them that they had a job to do and a country to save. An article in Smithsonian Magazine from March 2004, describes the scolding that one cadet training in Alabama received after a poor flight performance. “The exasperated instructor marched him over to another officer on the flightline and told him to give the student hell—in French.”

Unfortunately, some of the cadets at Barksdale paid the ultimate price during flight training. From September 1944 through February 1945, thirteen Frenchmen were killed in plane crashes here. Newspaper accounts of the time detailed the tragedies. A witness to one of the crashes was a city editor with The Shreveport Journal. “There was a dull thud as it struck the ground, an explosion, a burst of flame … and then great billows of smoke rose skyward,” he said in the September 15, 1944 issue of the paper. And the hazards of training were not limited to the air. Another young cadet died after accidently stepping into a spinning propeller.

The B-26 Marauder, a twin-engined bomber, was the aircraft in which the men were given instruction. According to the National Air and Space Museum, it included some new features, but could be difficult to learn due to higher speeds needed during take-offs and landings. The museum states that one of the plane’s early nicknames was the “Widow Maker.” Despite these challenges, the B-26 proved to be invaluable. The museum says of it, “Like the M1 Garand combat rifle, the Sherman tank, and the LST, the Marauder was an important weapon in the war against the Axis powers.”

As reports came over the radio of the liberation of Paris in August 1944, the Frenchmen were, of course, thrilled. Barksdale’s Bark, the official newspaper of the airfield, stated in an article from August 26 that year that the men “ … marked the stirring events in their native France by marching together on the parade grounds.” A photo shows them carrying both the American flag and the French tri-color flag, a fitting tribute to Barksdale’s role in providing the skills necessary to help France rise again.

If you have any photos or other information relating to the history of Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• French fliers attend party welcoming them to Barksdale Field/courtesy The Shreveport Times, May 7, 1944
• French fliers march on parade grounds at Barksdale to mark the liberation of Paris/courtesy Barksdale's Bark, August 26, 1944

Article by: Kevin Flowers

Barksdale’s Air Show: Thrilling Crowds Since Aviation’s Early Days

When the Wright brothers’ Wright Flyer first took flight on December 17, 1903, one of the onlookers – John T. Daniels – was left in awe. Historian David McCullough, in his book “The Wright Brothers,” wrote that Daniels gave an interview years later about the historic event and said that the aircraft “ … sailed off in the air … as pretty as any bird you ever laid your eyes on. I don’t think I ever saw a prettier sight in my life.” It was he who captured a photo of the Flyer’s successful launch from the sands of Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina. Thirty years later, that same sense of wonder may have prevailed among the thousands of people who attended the first air show at Barksdale Air Force Base.

That first show was part of the ceremonies celebrating the dedication of Barksdale Field, as the base was then known, on February 2, 1933. According to the book “A History of Barksdale Air Force Base,” published in 1971, Barksdale was born of the need for a new airfield to accommodate the U.S. Army Air Corps’ expanding 3rd Air Attack Group. Despite eight other cities bidding to get this new airfield, Barksdale’s present site won out, after what the book describes as “a monumental task that literally encompassed ten years of intensive, determined and dedicated effort.”

A crowd estimated to number 50,000 people attended the dedication, including the mother and other family members of the airfield’s namesake, Lieutenant Eugene Hoy Barksdale. Although there were no Air Force Thunderbirds or Navy Blue Angels to headline that day’s air show, newspaper accounts say the exhibition did not disappoint. Coverage in the February 3, 1933 edition of The Shreveport Times states, “Uncle Sam’s fleet of planes roared skyward for an hour and a half, sending an air-minded crowd home happy.” Demonstrations included “ground strafing,” in which the planes “dived to within almost 25 feet of targets … with two forward machine guns pelting leaden slugs,” and acrobatic maneuvers that “entertained the crowd with … loops, power dives, snap rolls,” and “every stunt in the varied and death-defying repertoire of a pursuit pilot.” According to this newspaper account, Barksdale Field Commander Major Millard F. Harmon led a flight of the 20th Pursuit Group past the reviewing stands, followed closely by a group of attack planes led by Captain Lester J. Maitland, a pilot notable for having made the first flight from California to Hawaii in 1927. For those attendees who had perhaps never seen an airplane, this spectacle must have been quite a sight to witness.

Holding the audience’s attention were aircraft such as the Boeing P-12, a prop-driven bi-plane having a design little changed from the World War One era, with a maximum speed of 189 miles per hour. Fast forward to the 1940s, when the U.S. military transitioned to jets that could attain speeds of nearly 600 miles per hour. As engines and airframes improved, those speeds continued to climb.

At this year’s Barksdale Defenders of Liberty Air Show, Saturday and Sunday, March 29 and 30, the Air Force Thunderbirds will perform, showcasing not only precision flying skills, but also an exceptional aircraft in the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Originally developed by General Dynamics, the Falcon is capable of reaching Mach 2 or 1,500 miles per hour, according to the plane’s fact sheet on the Air Force website af.mil. Other performers will include Red Bull Aviation, the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team, and the Titan Aerobatic Team. Historic aircraft like the P-51 Mustang and B-25 will also be part of the show. For more information, visit defendersoflibertyairshow.com.

Whether watching from on base or from your yard, enjoy the air show and its rich history, and understand that it was made possible through the efforts of numerous base personnel and community volunteers and civic organizations like the Shreveport-Bossier Military Affairs Council. To them I say thank you. And I pay homage to the organizers and performers of that first, long-ago airshow of 1933. Ninety-two years has not diminished the standard that was set or the legacy left that February day. The pages of history recall their accomplishment. Orville and Wilbur would be proud.

If you have any information or items relating to the history of Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• Headline from The Shreveport Times, November 5, 1934/courtesy newspapers.com
• Crowds attending Barksdale dedication and first air show, February 2, 1933/courtesy Bill Grabill, History Center collection

Article by: Kevin Flowers

Secret Base at Barksdale Helped Safeguard U.S. Nuclear Arsenal

 In an episode of “The Andy Griffith Show” titled “Keeper of the Flame,” Andy’s elementary school-aged son Opie comes to his dad’s workplace to share news with his dad, but remains tight-lipped on details of that news. “You know what I did? I joined a club,” Opie says. “What club was that,” Andy asks. “I can’t tell ya,” Opie replies. “Know where we meet,” Opie continues. “No, where,” Andy asks. “I can’t tell ya,” comes the answer. Each attempt from Andy to learn more about the club is met with the same reply from Opie, “I can’t tell ya.”

Barksdale Air Force Base was once home to a secret facility where, like Opie’s response about his club, mum was the word. Speaking of the facility could land one in serious trouble. And rightfully so, since the site was essential to national security at a time when the Cold War prevailed. Although given the simple name of Bossier Base, the facility was tasked with a mission that was anything but simple, and keeping that mission quiet was paramount.

Opening in November 1951 on 544 acres on the east side of the military reservation, Bossier Base was not unlike Barksdale AFB in its accommodations. An article in The Shreveport Times of August 11, 1957 describes the Bossier Base: “Single airmen live in modern dormitory-style barracks and eat in an attractive dining hall. A modern service club, officer’s club, swimming pool, baseball diamond, gymnasium and post exchange provide for off-duty relaxation.” But beyond similar amenities, comparisons between the two were few.

              

Bossier Base was a unique entity. The Shreveport Times article of August 11 details that uniqueness. “Contrary to popular opinion, the base is not an adjunct to Barksdale … and in fact is not directly under the administration of the Air Force,” the newspaper states. The base was administered initially by the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP), an organization jointly staffed by the Air Force, Army and Navy under the civilian-controlled Atomic Energy Commission, which had custody over the United States’ nuclear arsenal.

While most personnel at Barksdale could talk about their jobs, the personnel working at Bossier Base could not. “Security looms behind every facet of Bossier Base life,” states The Shreveport Times article of August 11. “It is the one dominant factor that permeates the lives of the men and their families.” Even when airmen were enjoying time away from the base, secrecy and security were a top priority. According to the August 11 article, “special agents” patrolled areas of Shreveport and Bossier frequented by Bossier Base staff to help ensure there was no “loose talk” about base activities. “Woe unto the man caught blabbing some classified item to the man sitting beside him in the bar,” the article warns.

So why the intense emphasis on keeping hidden what was hidden? For the first six years of Bossier Base’s existence, its mission was a source of speculation and rumor. Outsiders who knew of its presence could only guess as to what took place there. But that changed in the first few days of August 1957 during a congressional hearing of the House Armed Services Committee about funding. Testimony given revealed the need for secrecy: Bossier Base was a stockpile site – one of six in the country - for components to make nuclear weapons. These weapons could then be carried by U.S. Air Force bombers and used if needed. The cat had been let out of the bag. The beans had been spilled. And some Bossier City residents panicked at the news.

The August 9, 1957 issue of the Bossier City Planter’s Press contains an interview with a nuclear scientist that the newspaper contacted to help calm the local populace. “Fear of a possible accidental blast from nuclear weapons reportedly stored at Bossier Base have been expressed by many residents of the parish,” the paper states. But that fear was not necessary said the scientist. The newspaper paraphrased him as saying, “as long as the material which makes the action of nuclear weapons possible is kept in smaller quantities in separate places, there is no danger of it being exploded accidently.”

As Cold War tensions eased through the late 1960s, the mission of Bossier Base became less critical and the facility ceased operations in February 1970. Barksdale Air Force Base took charge of the former top-secret site and repurposed some of the buildings, although most were eventually demolished. In October 2015, a historical marker was placed at the site by some of the veterans who served at the base. The Shreveport Times article of August 11, 1957 aptly characterizes their contribution to protecting our country. “This is a deadly serious game we are playing to maintain peace, and no group of people are more intimately involved in it than the silent warriors within the guarded fastness of Bossier Base.” Want to know how those warriors played that game so well? I can’t tell ya.

Thanks to Eighth Air Force Historian Lane Callaway for providing information for this article.

If you have any information or items relating to the history of Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• Headline from The Shreveport Times, Aug. 11, 1957
• Guarded entrance to Bossier Base/courtesy Langston McEachern, The Shreveport Times, Aug. 11, 1957
• Signage marking former location of Bossier Base/courtesy Lane Callaway, Eighth Air Force Historian

Article by: Kevin Flowers

Mysterious Disappearance of Barksdale General and Airmen Still Unsolved

Throughout history there have been many intriguing and mysterious disappearances that remain unsolved such as the Lost Colony of Roanoke, the crew of the Mary Celeste, Amelia Earhart, and the men of Flight 19. One such disappearance has ties to Barksdale Air Force Base, and, although not as well-known as these more famous cases, it nonetheless is still mystifying 74 years after it happened.

In early 1951, the U.S. Air Force’s Strategic Air Command (SAC) established the 7th Air Division and assigned it to England to help counter the growing threat from the Soviet Union. SAC bombers stationed there could serve as a deterrent to Soviet hostilities. Brigadier General Paul Cullen was chosen to command the division and oversee its operations.

Born in 1901, Cullen joined the military at a time when aviation was still developing. According to his official Air Force biography, he entered service as a flying cadet in June, 1928. Only a year earlier, Charles Lindbergh had become the first person to fly solo, nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. Cullen would become proficient in photo reconnaissance, and his biography states that, among his career achievements, he commanded the Air Force Photo Unit during Operation Crossroads, the atom bomb tests conducted just after World War II.

Cullen’s association with Barksdale came as commander and later vice commander of the 2nd Air Force, which was headquartered at the base beginning in 1949. And it was at Barksdale that Cullen boarded the flight which would carry him and 52 others into the unknown.

The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II departed Walker Air Force Base in Roswell, New Mexico on March 21, 1951 and flew to Barksdale where Brig. Gen. Cullen and his staff joined the other passengers, which included experts in various air defense operations. England was their destination where Cullen would take charge of the 7th. According to Flying Magazine, the Globemaster was an aircraft which “tended to shake a lot, even in calm skies, earning it the nickname ‘Old Shaky.’” It was in these somewhat uncomfortable conditions that the flight made a brief refueling stop in Maine before heading out over the open North Atlantic on Friday, March 23rd. Checking in with weather ships along the route, the flight’s radio operator reported the plane’s position Friday evening as being approximately 800 miles from the coast of Ireland. All seemed to be going well, but that suddenly changed.

An article titled “Last Flight, the Missing Airmen, March 1951” on the Walker Aviation Museum website states that the C-124 gave out a mayday call, reporting a fire in the cargo crates and saying that the plane would have to set down in the ocean. “The aircraft was intact when it touched down,” according to the website. “All hands exited the aircraft wearing life preservers and climbed into inflated 5-man life rafts. The rafts were equipped with cold weather gear, food, water, flares, and … hand-crank emergency radios.” Having survived the forced water landing, the crew and passengers awaited rescue. It came too late.

An Air Force B-29 was sent from England and located the men and circled their position, but had to return to base after running low on fuel. According to the Walker Aviation Museum website, “Not one ship or a single aircraft returned to the position … until Sunday, the 25th of March, 1951.” When help did come, rescuers found nothing other than “some charred crates and a partially deflated life raft,” the website states. The 53 men were gone, vanished without a trace. A search lasting several days proved futile.

Despite the passage of time, answers to the mystery of what happened to Cullen and the others haven’t been forthcoming. Could a sudden storm have created rough seas that swamped the life rafts? Did the Russians, as some have speculated, snatch the men? The website for the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives states that “… it was revealed that Soviet submarines and surface vessels were active in the area.” The website also notes, “Due to their expertise in nuclear and other defense matters, Cullen and the other men on the airplane would have been an intelligence windfall to the Soviets.”

Questions have been asked about the delay in help arriving. Could the men have been saved if rescue had come sooner? Perhaps one day, we’ll know. Perhaps a long-secret document will come to light that will provide some sense of closure for the men’s families. For now, the “Last Flight” article may sum up the situation best. “We do not know what fate befell these men,” it states.

If you have any photos or other information relating to Bossier Parish history, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• Brigadier General Paul Cullen/courtesy United States Air Force 
• C-124 Globemaster II/courtesy United States Air Force

Article: Kevin Flowers

A Snowed-in SAC Christmas, 1968

The goal to be home for Christmas was almost just a dream for the more than a thousand drivers and passengers caught in Cozad, Nebraska in a crippling Christmastime blizzard in 1968. The small southcentral Nebraska town of Cozad lived up to the reputation for midwestern friendliness, and pitched in to help the stranded travelers of all ages from all parts of the country. Though nothing about the unplanned overnight with kind strangers was planned or expected, some of the stranded travelers got extra-unusual accommodations on the night of December 22, 1968. They climbed aboard an RBS (Radar Bomb Scoring) Express train, a train that was sent across the country for a decade under the 1st Combat Evaluation Group at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana to train bomb crews for the Strategic Air Command (SAC).

The Strategic Air Command was established in 1946 to deter nuclear warfare by making the threat of U.S. retaliation believable and ever-present. SAC was the US Air Force’s plan to show a rival superpower, chiefly the rapidly expanding Soviet Union, that the U.S. was in a perpetual state of readiness to launch a major counterattack (within a mere 15 minutes) in the event of a missile attack. The goal was to a create a détente, or state of preserving the peace despite continued hostilities.

For measurable practice conducting targeted missile drops, SAC had radar bomb scoring (RBS) sites at set locations around the country. Under General Curtis LeMay, SAC bomber crews trained constantly. It didn’t take long before the fixed targets became comfortably familiar to the crews, making training sessions less challenging with each go. RBS units on modified trains were the answer to keeping these vital training sessions fresh.

The three “RBS Express” trains were under the command of the 1st Combat Evaluation Group at Louisiana’s Barksdale Air Force Base beginning in 1961. These trains could move RBS training sites to anywhere with a siding, a short section of track that allows a train to pull off the main line. The trains could stay in one location for up to 6 months and carried a crew of 60 Air Force personnel. They were comprised of 4 radar cars, which were flat cars with vans and training equipment such as ground radar, computers, and electronics, plus 17 support cars. These included a generator car, two box cars for maintenance, a dining car, two day-room cars, supply cars, an administration car and 4 Pullman-style sleeper cars. The sleeper cars contained 4x7 foot ‘rooms’ with a fold-up bunk that doubled as a table, a closet, and a large picture window, with darkening curtains for those who worked the night shift. In the center of the Pullman cars were toilets, showers, and a laundry area.

On the night of December 22, 1968, as reported in the January 3, 1969 Observer, a Bossier City-based newspaper for Barksdale Air Force Base, a blizzard raged through south and central Nebraska (and other parts of the Great Plains) that tied up holiday road traffic for miles in all directions. The local police requested help from Lt. Col. Fred Davidson, commander of the RBS Express that had located just west of Cozad, Nebraska on US Highway 30 (which ran parallel and not far from interstate 80). Davidson welcomed 33 stranded passengers aboard the train. The youngest was a 2-month old baby.

The civilian guests came aboard the RBS train at dinnertime, so they were fed a meal from the train’s galley, shown the movie Dr. Zhivago, and given a presentation on the mission and operations of the RBS Express. This latter activity, at least, was common for the train’s crew, which frequently hosted tours to both top military brass and local students. Since the day was a Sunday and Protestant Chaplain from Nebraska’s Offutt AFB, Major J.E. Davis, happened to be on board, there was a church service for crew and visitors alike. Overnight, the guests were given sleeping accommodations in the train’s sleeping cars.

Space was ample (by railroad standards, anyway) since most of the RBS Express crew was also traveling for the holiday. The next morning, the weather had cleared enough that the guests were able to continue their travels.

An article in the newspaper The Cozad Local on Wednesday, January 1, 1969, reported that one of the RBS Express train guests, Tom Lyon of Colorado Springs, Colorado had already returned to Cozad “to see what it was like without a blizzard in progress.” More pressing, perhaps, was that he stopped by the newspaper’s office to both express his appreciation for the “impressive” hospitality shown him on the train, and to pick up the Local’s blizzard issue, since no one back home believed his story about having to spend the night on a USAF Strategic Air Command train!

From the staff of the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center, we wish you all the best this Christmas and holiday season. If you have any information, stories, or photos about Christmas and other holiday traditions in Bossier Parish, we would love to add them (or scanned copies) to our History Center’s research collection. We are located at 7204 Hutchison Drive (formerly called 850 City Hall Drive) just across Beckett Street from the old Central Library and History Center in Bossier City, LA. All Bossier Parish Libraries locations will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday, 12/24 and 12/25. Normal operating hours for Bossier Central Library and History Center are M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

For other local history facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images:

• RBS Train 1962, Barksdale AFB. Photo courtesy of the Don Ross of Don's Depot Rail photos.
• Emblem of the 1st Combat Evaluation Group of the Force USAF, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
• Omaha World-Herald photo showing a five-car smashup on Interstate 80 east of Waco, NE, as seen in the US Dept. of Commerce ESSA Weather Bureau Central Region Technical Attachment, The Snow, the Cold, and the Flood Potential, Upper Midwest, Winter and Spring 1968-1969

Article by: Pam Carlisle