April 5 - Texas History

Speaker 1: This is today in Texas history.

Speaker 2: On this day, April fifth, in nineteen seventeen, the first

planes landed at Kelly Field, San Antonio. The site was

selected in nineteen sixteen to expand the facilities of the

new Aviation Section of the Army. It was initially called

Aviation Camp, then Kelly Field, and finally Kelly Air Force Base.

During World War One, almost all American combat aviators earned

their wings at Kelly, which expanded dramatically. World War II

brought further changes, and the base became a major center

for the now separate United States Air Force in the

post war period. In nineteen ninety three came news that

the base was to be closed. At the time, Kelly

was the oldest continuously operating flying base in the United

States and was the largest employer in San Antonio. The

massive Kelly Air Force Base Redevelopment project converted the base

into to an industrial complex an inland port now operated

by the Port Authority of San Antonio.

Speaker 1: I bet you didn't know, doubt that was today in

Texas history.