Page 12 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt 7-31-15

July 31, 2015 & Thunderbolt
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Now
Then

In plain sight, but where?

by Senior Airman Squadron office real property specialist. surrounded by a set of pilot wings. Un- they’ve remained for more than 60 years.
MARCY COPELAND There are only a few known base pho- derneath those words are Congressional “To the best of the real property office
Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service
56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs tographs to show this memorial with the Cross, Silver Star, Distinguished Service staffs knowledge, sometime after 1955, the
clearest photograph taken in 1951. Next to Medal, Purple Heart, Distinguished Flying bronze plaques were removed from their
What was once a hustling, bustling main the names on the plaques are the years of Cross, Soldiers Medal, Oak Leaf Clusters original displays and placed into their cur-
gate to Luke Air Force Base is now a monu- the graduating classes ranging from 1941 and Air Medal. rent configuration,” Winkleblech said.
ment known only as facility number four. to 1943. These men were graduates of pilot
training at Luke Field. Next to the year sits The year the original monument was built As Luke Field grew in size and mission, it
Resting behind the 56th Fighter Wing carved emblems representing the awards is unknown, but is estimated to be between became Luke Air Force Base with more than
Command Post building sits an old cement and decorations earned by each pilot while 1942 and 1946. The brass plaques featuring 70 years of construction and expansion. The
key where the original base flag once flew. serving in World War II. the names were placed on three separate monument became surrounded by the Maj.
Surrounding the cement key is an arched cement stones that sat just inside the gate Troy L. Gilbert Memorial Bridge when it
concrete memorial holding faded brass “The memorial is a list of graduates from and in front of the original flag post. The was constructed in 2008.
plaques that have weathered with time. It World War II,” said Richard Griset, 56th monument was taken down and replaced
is known as the “Honor Roll.” Fighter Wing historian. “This shows what with a solid concrete piece in the shape of It sits as a silent memorial to those who
awards they received during the war. We a half decagon (ten-sided geometric shape) entered through the gates at Luke Field
“The monument was added to the civil are not sure who, but someone followed sometime after 1951. The original brass as students and left as pilots. These men
engineer records in 1945 and given the these pilots.” plaques were placed into the concrete where helped lead the United States to victory
identification of facility number four,” said during the war and this monument serves
Steve Winkleblech, 56th Civil Engineer The center plaque reads Honor Roll as a testament to their heroism.

Courtesy photo

An archived photograph shows what the original “Honor Roll” monument use to look like before it was changed sometime after 1951.