Walterboro Army Air Field

Walterboro Army Air Field. . "We were prisoners, but (we weren't made to) feel like prisoners. We were just people waiting to go back home" , - Helmut Ulbricht, German POW, Walterboro Army Air Field, 1945.The Press and Standard, 1994. , Two Hundred and fifty German prisoners of war were held at WAAF during world war two, providing essential labor for local farmers and repatriation at the end of the war., Look closely. , Buildings are rising out of forgotten foundations in the surrounding woods., Listen closely. , There is a distant drone of fighter planes as they sweep overhead. (Picture included): The 510th Fighter Squadron was just one of the many groups for whom Walterboro was the last training stop before being sent into combat overseas. Photograph courtesy of the 510th Fighter Squadron., You can hear voices in the wind whispering through the pines... The crisp orders of officers. The boisterous tones of pilots and mechanics. The low tones of German prisoners., Today this is a quiet regional airport. During World War II it was a bustling air field which thousands of men passed through on their way to action overseas. For many the air field and nearby town were the last taste they would have of home. For some it would be a battleground as fraught with emotion and challenges as the skies above Europe. For others it was a prison. , , Together, their stories bring to life the incredible history of Walterboro Army Air Field., (Lower left picture): Over five hundred black pilots faced discrimination and segregation while training at Walterboro Army Air Field between April 1944 and October 1945. Tuskegee class 44F, 1944. Photograph courtesy of Hirem E. Mann