Pendleton Air Museum

WWII IN A WILD WEST TOWN DOCUMENTARY

WWII in a Wild West Town is a documentary based on interviews of Veterans and civilians who worked and trained at Pendleton Air Field during the WWII Era. The documentary also includes footage and stills of airplanes, equipment and people pertinent to the film.

The film depicts the military aspects and the accomplishments of the civilians and military personnel during the 1940's. It also shows how the base brought many chance meetings which resulted in marriages and friendships.

Some of the more famous events involving the Air Field are the following:

• Doolittle Raid on Japan-B-25's Pilots trained at Pendleton Air Field
• Atomic Bombs-B29 Maintenance Crews were trained at Pendleton Air Field
• Triple Nickle-All Black Smoke Jumper Crews trained at Pendleton Air Field

The Pendleton Air Field boasted many different types of famous WWII airplanes including the B-25, B-17, B29, P47, B52 among others. The maintenance crews that were trained at Pendleton serviced a 200 mile radius from Pendleton and were also assigned to overseas bases. The pilots and crew were trained in Pendleton for every facet of the War.

There were over 100 airplane crashes during this war time as pilots learned to fly and navigate the airplanes to prepare for their assignments.

The documentary talks about how WWII affected the Pendleton area and people and how Pendleton was so involved in the many facets of the war even though it was a small town.