Rating: 
Summary: Join the Air Force and see Texas
Review: This review first appeared in the April 2002 issue of DR AHEAD, the newsletter of the Air Force Navigators Observers Assoication. There is a saying, "Join the Navy and see the world. Join the Air Force and see Texas." In these two books Tom Alexander takes readers on a tour of Texas to visit 19 of the 65 Army Air Force bases which operated there during World War II. Volume I covers the bases which were at Amarillo, Pyote, Pecos, Sweetwater, Greenville, Waco, Harlingen, and San Antonio (which alone of these still survives as an active facility). Volume II adds to the tour the bases at Pampa, Hondo, Del Rio, Midland, Marfa, El Paso, Fort Worth, Lubbock, Austin, Big Spring, and Houston. Alexander tells how and when each base came into existence, what missions were fulfilled, who some of the people associated with the base were, how the thousands of Air Force men and women, mostly from outside of Texas, interacted with the nearby community, and what became of the facility. In addition the author looks at the nearby Texas communities before and after the bases were established and the impact that the bases had on the state as a whoe. Information about the bases is carefully researched and documented with endnotes. There are scores of histrical and contemporary photographs. The books are rich with ancedotal material. Alexander writes with skill The heart of these books is Alexander's powerful descriptions of the opening, operation, and disposition of the bases and the resulting impacts on Texas. Those who spent Air Force time in Texas will enjoy these books. Libraries in communities which have or had a military base nearby should acquire them. This goes for communities across the country, not just in Texas, because the lessons they teach are about how war and peach change America.
Rating:
Summary: Wow, What a Fascinating Book
Review: What a fascinating book. I thoroughly enjoyed the portrayal of the life and times of Sweetwater as well as what it was like to be a WASP in a small Texas town!
Rating:
Summary: Wow, What a Fascinating Book
Review: What a fascinating book. I thoroughly enjoyed the portrayal of the life and times of Sweetwater as well as what it was like to be a WASP in a small Texas town!
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