The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Last month my daughter, Bubs Cerma, and I stopped at Dunham Cellars located at the Walla Walla Municipal Airport. I mentioned to the young man who showed us around that I used to dance there during World War II. I found out later that I hadn't danced with soldiers there, because the Dunham Cellars had been used as hangars for B-17 and B-32 airplanes! In Robert A. Bennett's book, "Walla Walla, A Nice Place to Raise a Family," he writes, "Three days after Pearl Harbor it was announced in Washington, D.C., that Walla Walla was to be one of seven sites for a new $7.5 million U.S. Army-Air Force training base. "The soldiers were able to move to the base June 25, 1942. "The first crews at the base learned to fly B-17 airplanes and were then sent to Boise's Gowan Field before shipping overseas. They were the crew members of the 8th Air Force in England. "The base was declared surplus 8-31-47, and turned over to the City and County to become the Municipal Airport." "As work progressed on the Airbase, it was announced on April 13, 1942, that Walla Walla had been selected as the site of a 1,000-bed hospital...named in honor of Brigadier General Walter D. McCaw Chief Surgeon of AEF during World War I. "During the war, the McCaw Hospital served some 16,000 patients. "The last patients left in November 1945." The end of WWII was declared Aug. 15, 1945. The anniversary of this event was what recalled this story to my mind. B.A. Keve and I were talking about what we were doing during that time. B.A. said, "Patriotism reigned at every age." The joy of music was shared by Margaret Bigler, piano teacher at Prospect Point school in Walla Walla. She said Margaret Bigler would "scurry" us into her red convertible from school and take us to McCaw to sing to the patients there every Saturday. I was a Girls Service Organization member and danced with soldiers in different places in Walla Walla. I helped prepare the monthly USO letters, outlining the comings and goings of the servicemen from the valley.

"The day after the Japanese attack, state, county and city officials met at the sheriff's office to plan for pooling manpower, etc.," he also wrote, which recalled my other work of the day.

I was a state employee for the State of Washington at that time.

My duty was to operate a switchboard, and the penitentiary whistle would "blow" advising of another attack. Thank God that did not happen!