Air base rumors rampant in '42

"I have had several occasions to be very proud of McCook and those folks who are responsible for the McCook Service canteen.

"The typical conversation starts, 'Where are you from buddy?' The answer may be New York, California, Georgia, Maine, Pennsylvania, or any of the 48 states.

"When the other soldier asks me, I say 'McCook, Nebraska' my chest swelling out almost popping off a couple of buttons (which I'd have to sew on myself). Then the other soldier often says, 'McCook, Nebraska? I remember that town. Some nice ladies from the town were at the station and gave us fellows on the train a lot of stuff like magazines, candy, fruit, cigarettes and other things that we really appreciated.'

"It would surprise you folks to know how many fellows I have contacted that have said that very thing to me."

The above quote comes from a letter to the editor in the Dec. 30, 1942, Gazette --sent by Pvt. Chester C. Clifton, Squadron A, Aerial Gunnery School, Wendover Field, Utah. He also added, "You probably never have traveled on a train without knowing your destination. That's the way we all travel."

I never thought of it before, but that fact would certainly help explain why that little bit of "normalcy" that the McCook Service Canteen gave the boys meant so much. It diverted the soldiers' attention for a while and let them know that others were thinking of them too.

As for the McCook Army Air Base at the end of 1942 ... there were some developments and there were some questions. Capt. Grubb, who had been in charge of the construction since the beginning was reassigned to Washington, D.C. In his good-bye talk to the Rotary he said that the paving operations here were done almost three times the speed of normal with half the equipment and twice the hauling distances on some of the other satellite base projects. He credited close coordination as the reason they were able to accomplish it. "Don't expect our paving out at the base to last as long as the paving on your highways." Captain Grubb admonished. "This was a job that had to be done in a hurry and in spite of cold weather conditions and these things are not favorable for long-lived pavement, but it will serve the purpose for which it is intended."

On Dec. 10, 1942, Lieut. S.M. VanKirk was assigned as post engineer and the engineering office was set to close on Dec. 15. A Gazette article on Dec. 13 said that the air base was being turned over to the Army either that day or the next. There had been no announcement how soon troops would occupy the base, that date had been set back several times already.

Now that the base was there, I guess it was time for the first payment to arrive in McCook to pay the landowners for the land they had taken. The Dec. 17 Gazette reported that a check for $22,927 had been received by Elmer Kay, deputy clerk of the U.S. Federal court to set aside in the registry fund, "until the court orders its payment to former owners of property on the site of the McCook air base." The check was from the U.S. Government for a Declaration of Taking and was intended for payment of Tract 3 and Tract 10 of the 10 tracts purchased from individual owners for establishment of the base.

Tract 3, approximately 160 acres of land, was the property of Cora Agnes Cottingham and Martha Cottingham. The government offered $8,181 in payment.

Tract 10, consisting of 400 acres, more or less was formerly the property of St. John's Commandery, No. 16, Knights Templar, who received the property through a bequest from the late Dr. Emma Easterday. The government offered payment of $14,746 for the tract.

The next day, December 18, 1942, the Gazette had an article telling of the air base's desire to contract with someone for garbage disposal off the base. "The amount of garbage which will be accumulated daily is not known at present, but officers stated that it would require a daily 'pickup' and additionally might require trash disposal. It was suggested that hog farmers particularly might be interested."

The local area engineer's office was supposed to close on the 13th ... but it didn't. On Dec. 21 The Gazette reported that the date had been extended till the end of the month. It also reported rumors that the base would be, "expanded to accommodate five times the number of Air Force troops contemplated in bringing the base to its present stage of completion." Rumors were running rampant at the end of 1942.