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Memphis in the Military

Loss of USS Memphis, 29 August 1916

At three in the afternoon of 29 August 1916, the 14,500-ton armored cruiser Memphis and the 1177-ton gunboat Castine were riding gently, anchored in the open roadstead off Santo Domingo, capital city of the Dominican Republic. Rear Admiral Charles F. Pond, for whom Memphis was flagship, and a recreation party were ashore and the remainder of the ships' officers and crews were engaged in normal duties. Far away somewhere in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea, a seismic event had already generated a powerful tsunami, or tidal wave, as such things were then termed. One of the two ships would barely escape its effects, while the other would be driven ashore a complete wreck. More than forty men would lose their lives.

The big cruiser's remaining officers and men, many of them badly injured, were brought ashore by ship to shore lines, hastily rigged by U.S. Marines, Navy personnel and local residents. USS Memphis, so thoroughly damaged as to be not worth refloating, remained just off Santo Domingo's shoreline for many years, a monument to a sudden tsunami, one of nature's most unforseeable and powerful forces.

The story of the "The Spirit of Beale Street" goes beyond an airplane.
In 1942, when the world was at war, Lt. G.W. Lee and other African-American civic and business leaders in Memphis organized the second war bond drive in the Negro community. This drive raised a remarkable $303,000, the amount needed to build a B-24 Consolidated Liberator bomber. The name chosen for this bomber was the "The Spirit of Beale Street," reflecting the personality and foundation of the community that paid.

There was another ship the USS Memphis ( CL-13) 1925-1947 a 7050-ton Omaha class light cruiser

And a sub USS Memphis (SSN-691) April 3, 1976 - April 1, 2011 a Los Angeles class

The tree on top of the Shack

Before the tree fall

After tree fell

knocked down patio

Tree on top of roof

After cutting some of tree

Covington to Dyersburg Tn.

A cotton field about 2 - 3 miles long N. of Covington

Henning,Tn

Gates, Tn

Halls, Tn

Arnold Field Old WWII Airport with cotton stored, below a picture of airfield in 1943














Dyersburg Army Air Base is an inactive United States Air Force base, approximately 2 miles north of Halls, Tennessee. It was active during World War II as a training airfield. It was closed on 30 November 1945
Dyersburg AAB was the largest combat aircrew training school built during the early war years. It was the only inland B-17 Flying Fortress training base east of the Mississippi River. The base was located on 2,541 acres (10.28 km2), not including the practice range. Approximately 7,700 crew men received their last phase training at DAAB. 114 crew men lost their lives.

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Serial 41-24485, The Memphis Belle

Followup to Walnut Ridge Airport

Marine Corps Air Facility Walnut Ridge is a former United States Army and United States Marine Corps airfield located in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. After it was closed, it was redeveloped into Walnut Ridge Regional Airport.
The airfield was built in 1942/43 and opened in October 1943 as Walnut Ridge Army Airfield and was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base during World War II. Walnut Ridge was commanded by the 324th Army Air Force Base Unit, being assiged to the AAF Southeast Training Center.

Designed for 5,114 military personnel, and 976 civilians, Walnut Ridge AAF had three (3) 5,000-foot runways, a huge apron covering over 63 acres (250,000 m2), 4 large hangars, base engineering building, and fully equipped 203 bed hospital. It also included, 131,151 sq ft (12,184.3 m2). of office space, 119,613 sq ft (11,112.4 m2). of enclosed storage space, 49,324 sq ft (4,582.3 m2). shop space, a water plant and sewer plant designed to serve 5,000 troops, and a 10,000-man laundry, 2 theaters, a swimming pool, gymnasium, WAC housing, eight mess halls, dozens of enlisted-men's barracks, parachute loft, gas chamber, 260 tile-block apartments, motor pool, control tower, officers' club, link-trainer buildings, fire station, several warehouses, crash station, and 9.64 miles (15.51 km) of streets. Construction and land cost was almost ten and one-half million dollars.
In response to World War II, the United States government decided to create an Army Air Forces Flying School near Walnut Ridge. Having originally chosen Dyersburg, Tennessee, for the location of the new airbase, the government changed the location to Arkansas after deciding that the Tennessee location would be unfeasible due to the fact that millions of cubic yards of dirt would have to be moved in order to construct the runway. Construction of the airbase began on June 20, 1942. The flying school officially opened on August 15, 1942, and began training its first class of cadets. Over the next two years, pilots were trained to fly BT-13s.

THE BEATLES
On September 18, 1964, the group finished a concert at Memorial Coliseum in Dallas, Texas, and immediately boarded a plane owned and operated by Reed Pigman. (Pigman owned American Flyers Airlines out of Dallas. The Beatles chartered one of Pigman’s planes during the 1964 tour.) Pigman owned a ranch in Alton, Missouri, that would serve as a getaway before the group’s final U.S. concert of the year, which would be in New York. Before traveling to Alton, the Beatles made a brief stop in Walnut Ridge. The Walnut Ridge airport provided the ideal spot for the group to change planes before heading to Missouri. The runway was built as a training facility during World War II and could handle large aircraft. Also, the Beatles could avoid the crush of screaming fans by landing at a secluded airport at the edge of a small town.

WALNUT RIDGE, AR (KAIT) - The really large aircraft you see at the Walnut Ridge airport will be the last that Universal Asset Management brings in for disassembly. The 747's are having to divert.

The issue is not the runway length at Walnut Ridge, the issue is the ramp. It's big but it's not quite big enough or quite thick enough to handle a bunch of large aircraft .2011

July Family picture

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