By John McCallum
Editor 

Fairchild Air Force Base celebrated 75th birthday

 

Last updated 12/28/2017 at 3:04pm

File photo Left to right: Spokane Mayor David Condon, Fairchild Air Force Base Commander Col. Ryan Samuelson and Greater Spokane Incorporated CEO Todd Mielke prepare to use small swords to cut the base's 75th anniversary cake.

Fairchild Air Force Base turned 75 in March - and several hundred of its closest friends stopped by to celebrate.

Fairchild began operations in early 1942, the culmination of community efforts that began in 1935 to get an Army Air Corps facility located in the area. Several years later, the Army also viewed Spokane favorably in its efforts to locate a base closer to the Pacific Ocean and interior flying routes to Alaska, but protected from attack by the natural barriers of the Cascade Mountains.

In late 1941 after receiving Army authorization, Spokane citizens raised almost $125,000 in a we...



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