Comments about ‘'Leftover Field': Clock is ticking to preserve Wendover site's often forgotten legacy’

I've been there many times and always felt that this forgotten airbase was history going to waste. The potential is high and there is now enough traffic and visitors going in the the Nevada side with no tourist sites to see or places to go. This place is the history of Wendover long before casinos. I'm glad to see someone is finally taking an interest in this place.

It's history has a lot of reason to save this place and preserve it. Even add some restoration to what actually happened there and its role in the war. Most people drive by there not even knowing it is there.

Currently the airfield serves as an airport for wendover and an emergency landing site for military aircraft using the west desert bombing range. For this reason perhaps Hill AFB might be a source of funding to restore and maintain the field as an emergency location. It has saved millions of dollars in military aircraft and many pilots lives as an emergency field. It still serves as a place to repair these aircraft enough to fly them home.

I, for one, don't think a penny of taxpayer dollars ought to be used to "preserve" this old hangar. Yea, so the Enola Gay parked in there. Big Deal. If some private donor wants to spend their money, then fine. But there is no more money in the federal coffers. The Democrats and Obama have spent trillions we don't have and have mortgaged the future of the next two or three generations. Where does it stop? Enough is enough. Sorry the old hangar is rusting and about to fall down. If people want to see the actual Bomber, the Enola Gay, it's on display at the Smitsonian AIr and Space Annex at Dulles AIrport, Virginia.

This former training base IS important to the country's history.As WWII vets drop like flies daily,we are losing these priceless peices of our cultural heritage.Their MONUMENTS must be kept to tell their story.I dearly love WWLL sites,and there are many,but too many have been lost.The Freeman website,about airfields (abandoned and little known airfields) lists many,including much about Wendover.I've crawled all over this place and it needs MONEY NOW.

Every time we go out to Wendover ( about once every three years) We go out and look at it. If we have friends, we take them. I am entralled with all things old and in awe of the history there. Even as delapidated it is, it becomes alive with our military of days gone by, I begin to imagine the bustle.

I relish Sunday mornings as a time to read for pleasure. Your article is the first thing I read today, and I hope it's indicative of everything else I will read this Sunday. Wonderfully written and researched. Thank you.

It is time to rally around the base and hope that Tom's efforts pay off for those who remain may see the history there.

Out of all of the AAF WWII training bases, Wendover
has the greatest potential to be restored to the way it was. Jim Petersen and his crew of volunteers have done remarkable work in preserving this historic landmark. All Americans should give him a hand.

Lest we forget!
There are some of us left who still remember. We need to keep this ntional shrine both visible and in place. After I die you younger people may do as you wish and rewrite history either from some book you read or from a message you encountered on a rest room wall.

Lest we forget!

There are some of us left who still remember. The Wendover airport is both a national shrine and a reminder of the powers of good vs evil. After I die, those of you remaining may choose to interpret the historical facts of WWII as you choose.

My grandfather was a prisoner of war in Japan in WWII, scheduled to be executed if the Americans invaded. The atomic bomb saved his life and made mine possible. Thank you Mr. Tibbetts!

My brother and I were working on the new airport in Wendover last year and both of us remarked on how interesting the old airport hanger looked. Thank you for the article, what an amazing insight into such an important time in our nations history.

THE TAX PAYER CANT TAKE ANY MORE OF PEOPLES AGENDAS TO SPEND MONEY, WE DONT HAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA, IF A PRIVATE PARTY WANTS TO RESTORE THIS HANGER THEN HAVE AT IT, IF YOU WW VETS WANT IT RESTORED WHY DONT YOU ALL COME UP WITH THE MONEY?????? SHOVING THIS ABSURD PROPOSAL ON THE TAXPAYER IS JUST ASININE!!!!!!!!!!

My father (drafter at age 33) after New Guinea andthe Philipines was in the mass of troops there for the invasion of Japan. ?The expected casualties were based on Okinawa to be 500,000 US. As a Captian in the Marilnes in 1960 flying fighters as the night air defense for Tokyo, I did fly over both Hiroshima and Nagasaki at 35-4000 feet. The damage still extant iln Yokohama from the fire bomb raids was equally huge. I was based where many Kamikaze pilots were trained Atsugi. The tunnels etc under the base for suicide defense were all still there.

Great pictures and article. Thanks for tying history in with the news.

Please don't spend any taxpayer money on this.

Dulles is in Maryland, not Virginia!
It is a shame that the salt and alkai has taken it's tolls. I have been digging and scration with my metal detector for heaven only knows and I can only find coins that can't be identafied. Shame. Maybe the cocinos will put up some cash, they get the most use of the landing strip and are the only ones to honor the old base with a monument in West Wendover.

Get the Peppermill to help out- they've taken over everything else out there, make em' give back something now

This is a wonderful historic site that needs preserving. Our fathers served and now we can serve by donating our time, skills and money to preserving it so that our children and their children can still learn about the history from that entire era. We have been out there many times and we find something to do to help out. Thank you, Petersens, for what you are doing! We loved helping on the Norden building and will continue to support you.

A lot of the most important US historical sites are private foundations; Mount Vernon - home of George Washington, Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, Montpellier, home of James and Dolly Madison, etc. There are a lot of others like that. Why don't the promoters form a private foundation and solicit corporate sponsors say, oh like, those nearby State Line casino people who benefit from increased tourism and visitation..??? Just a thought.

A story that needs to be told and retold. Bravo Deseret News! Reading it brought back so many memories, not all happy ones I might add. I lost a brother in the war and I'm so thankful for the dedication of those who served, not only those at Wendover. We spend money bailing out banks who hike our interest rates and pay themselves big bonuses. That's un American. Why not spend a few of those tax dollars somewhere doing something that'll remind Americans of what this country accomplished when the chips were really down. Forget or ignore the past and suffer the consequences.