During the week of May 10 through 16, 1954, Marin County thanked the airmen at Hamilton Air Force Base for protecting the Bay Area and contributing toward Marin’s significant growth.
Throughout the county, this special week was observed as the Hamilton Air Force Base Appreciation Week. The San Rafael Chamber of Commerce proposed the plan for this special recognition, which was tied in with national Armed Forces Day celebrations on May 15, 1954. Businesses displayed “We like Hamilton” signs and banners in their storefronts, and schoolchildren heard stories of heroic flights by the airmen.
Hamilton Field was established on July 3, 1930, when President Herbert Hoover signed a congressional bill calling for the construction of the field and airstrips on the Marin Meadows land. It was named after 1st Lt. Lloyd Andrews Hamilton, who was the first American officer to fly with the Royal Flying Corps, and the first of his squadron to shoot down an enemy aircraft during World War I. He was killed while on a combat mission over enemy territory in Belgium.
The gates opened in December 1934 when the 7th Bombardment Group moved from March Field in Riverside County. This new military contingent consisted of 48 officers, 30 flying cadets and 522 enlisted men. The base runway was suitable for B-12 and B-18 bombers along with P-36s and P-40s; the base was also home to the 10th Pursuit Wing. From early 1941 through December 1944, Hamilton Field was designated as the point of departure for bombardment squadrons heading for the Pacific.
In 1954, Marin residents celebrated Hamilton Air Force Base Appreciation Week. (Courtesy of Marin History Museum)
An officer offered his perspective in a May 10, 1954, Marin IJ article: “The personnel of Hamilton Air Force Base are at war with an unknown enemy 24 hours of every day. Their operation would be the same tomorrow if we were actually at war, as it is today in peace. Between 90 and 120 seconds from the time an alert is sounded, a jet fighter-interceptor is in the air to track, intercept and identify or destroy any ‘unknown’ or ‘hostile’ aircraft.”
Some of the significant events include: on May 1, 1935, the first plane-to-ground radio contract in Air Corps history was maintained at Hamilton; on Dec. 6, 1941, a bomber squadron of B-17s left Hamilton for Pearl Harbor and arrived on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, in the middle of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; and, in February 1945, a plane carrying 63 nurses, the “Angels of Bataan,” returned to Hamilton after almost three years of being prisoners of war in the Pacific.
The field was open to the public for the main celebrations on May 15, 1954, which included flying displays, aircrafts on display, a variety of booths and refreshments. Resolutions naming this week Hamilton Air Force Base Appreciation Week were adopted by both the Marin County Board of Supervisors and the San Rafael City Council. On April 1, 1954, the Victorian building adjacent to Boyd Park, currently the Boyd Gate House, became the new Armed Forces Service Center. The building was offered to the citizens’ committee for the service center when their lease expired at the 852 Fourth St. location for a place of enjoyment and recreation by servicemen and their families. As a descendant of Ira Cook, Louise Boyd was pleased to hear that the lodge would be used. The official opening of the service center took place on May 16, 1954, marking the final event of the week-long festivities.
History Watch is written by Lane Dooling, marketing and social media coordinator at the Marin History Museum, marinhistory.org. Images included in History Watch are available for purchase by calling 415-382-1182 or by email at info@marinhistory.org
Originally Published: February 24, 2025 at 4:49 PM PST
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.