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Updated: November 11, 2022 @ 1:44 am
Visiting dignitaries at the Cut Bank airport on Aug. 22, 1941 included, from left: Congressman and local oilfield contractor J. Hugo Aronson; Cut Bank Mayor George Chasse; F.R. La Fontise, city councilman and member of the airport board; Dr. C. H. Minette, airport board member; Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson; Donald S. Libby, superintendent of Glacier National Park; Gen. George C. Marshall, commander of the Armed Forces (his back is to the camera, as he disliked having his photograph taken); and E. C. (Carl) Clapper, who would be a post-war mayor of Cut Bank. Photo courtesy Glacier County Historical Museum
Soldiers from the Cut Bank Air Base joined in a parade down Main Street on Nov. 11, 1942. Note the young faces. The average age for the Air Corps at that time was 18 to 22 years. Photo courtesy Jim Rae
The Blackfeet Tribe held several ceremonies inducting military officers, and occasionally their spouses, as honorary members of the Tribe. This photo appears to be related to the Blackfeet Bear Society. Photo courtesy of Glacier County Historical Museum
This telegram confirmed that Cut Bank would be a location of an Army Air Corps training facility. Photo courtesy of Glacier County Historical Museum
This is a rare photo of the air base under construction. Photographs of the base in any form were strictly forbidden for security reasons. Most of the buildings were never finished past the tarpaper and lathe stage as they were meant to last only a few years. Photo courtesy Jim Rae
Visiting dignitaries at the Cut Bank airport on Aug. 22, 1941 included, from left: Congressman and local oilfield contractor J. Hugo Aronson; Cut Bank Mayor George Chasse; F.R. La Fontise, city councilman and member of the airport board; Dr. C. H. Minette, airport board member; Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson; Donald S. Libby, superintendent of Glacier National Park; Gen. George C. Marshall, commander of the Armed Forces (his back is to the camera, as he disliked having his photograph taken); and E. C. (Carl) Clapper, who would be a post-war mayor of Cut Bank. Photo courtesy Glacier County Historical Museum
Soldiers from the Cut Bank Air Base joined in a parade down Main Street on Nov. 11, 1942. Note the young faces. The average age for the Air Corps at that time was 18 to 22 years. Photo courtesy Jim Rae
The Blackfeet Tribe held several ceremonies inducting military officers, and occasionally their spouses, as honorary members of the Tribe. This photo appears to be related to the Blackfeet Bear Society. Photo courtesy of Glacier County Historical Museum
This telegram confirmed that Cut Bank would be a location of an Army Air Corps training facility. Photo courtesy of Glacier County Historical Museum
This is a rare photo of the air base under construction. Photographs of the base in any form were strictly forbidden for security reasons. Most of the buildings were never finished past the tarpaper and lathe stage as they were meant to last only a few years. Photo courtesy Jim Rae
By August of 1941 the world was in turmoil. Just four months earlier, Germany had already defeated and occupied Poland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Yugoslavia and Greece. It was relentlessly working its way toward England, which had declared war on Germany in 1939. The Nazi goal was to conquer the world and start a new “world order.”
And so it was that a special military transport landed at the Cut Bank Airport carrying two top military leaders on Aug. 22, 1941. On board were Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and Army Commander and Chief General George C. Marshall. Their trip to Montana was ostensibly to visit Glacier Park for rest and relaxation. Secretary Stimson also planned to meet his longtime friend, Tom Dawson, who had guided Stimson on numerous hunting trips in the area that would become Glacier National Park.
While Stimson and Marshall did relax for a brief period at the East Glacier Park Hotel, they also met privately with the Cut Bank Airport Commission to discuss the possibility of constructing an Army Air Corps training base at the airport location. The plan had been suggested to the military by the commission earlier in 1941.
Fast forward just over five months later, to Dec. 7, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and on Dec. 11 war had been declared on Japan and Germany by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
On June 10, 1942, by telegram, General Hap Arnold, commander of the Army Air Corps, notified Dr. C. H. Minette, chairman of the Cut Bank Airport Commission, that a base was to be built at Cut Bank. Similar bases would also be built at Lewistown and Glasgow, with a “main base” at Great Falls.
The United States “War Machine” acted lightning fast, and construction was started almost immediately after approval by the War Department. Incredibly, the base was ready to occupy by Armistice Day (Veterans Day now) of 1942 and on Nov. 11 the base was dedicated and activated even though it was far from complete. On that same day, the new Masonic Temple in Cut Bank was dedicated, and the United Service Organization (USO) that entertained the troops stationed at the base was housed in the basement.
The men who would assemble at the base were no strangers to training, as most of them had already been well instructed on their individual specialties aboard the B-17 “Flying Fortress.” However, they had never acted together as a 10-man team. That was the purpose of the four bases in Montana.
From November of 1942 to October of 1943 four groups of approximately 250 men each would train at the base. The same would take place at the three other bases in Montana.
The main runway approach was directly over Cut Bank, which would cause what seemed like endless noise for the townspeople, but there were few complaints. In fact, residents of Cut Bank were quick to accept the men and support their mission to help bring peace to the world.
The men were treated like family, and many events were planned to make them feel at home. There were dances and celebrations held at both the enlisted men and officer’s recreation halls at the base, or at the USO in town. Bowling leagues and baseball teams were formed. Marv Owen, owner of Owen Brothers Hardware store, even arranged fishing trips to Glacier Park. Regular bus tours to Glacier Park were also provided for the men.
Perhaps one of the most impressive and memorable events were the ceremonies held by members of the Blackfeet Tribe. Several officers from each flight group were either inducted into the Blackfeet Tribe or were made members of various Blackfeet societies.
When the four-month training period was complete, the crews flew their B-17s to England via a route taking them over the U.S., Canada, Greenland, Iceland and then the hop over the Atlantic to bases in England.
Many would later bomb targets in Germany, Italy and North Africa. Together, the four groups who trained in Cut Bank dropped more than 70,000 tons of bombs and shot down over 1,000 enemy aircraft. Most of the crews participated in the invasion of Normandy.
For “the rest of the story” about the air base and the airport after the war, visit the WWII Airmen’s Museum at the airport terminal building. Group tours are also available.
11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 11: There will be a Veterans Day luncheon in the gymnasium at Cut Bank …
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