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CAMP BARKELEY
Now DYESS
AIR FORCE BASETaylor County,
Texas
11 Miles SW of Abilene
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During
World War II,
this camp (originally meant to be temporary) enclosed 77,000 acres
and included 1/9th of Taylor County's land.
The camp was named (on January 10th 1941) by the War Department to
honor David Bennes Barkley, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor
for his sacrifice in World
War I. The discrepancy in the spelling of the Camp's name has
been attributed to a misspelled document. |
| Camp
Barkeley Historical Marker |
Private
David Barkley's Story
A
native of Laredo,
Barkley enlisted in the Army while still in his teens. His family
stated that he hid his Mexican heritage because he felt it would impede
his assignment to the front lines. He succeeded in making it to the
front and volunteered for a mission to swim the Meuse River to gather
information on German troops. While he and another volunteer accomplished
their mission, Barkley contracted cramps on his return across the
river and drowned. His death came just two days before the armistice.
Barkley was one of three Texans awarded the CMH in WWI.
An elementary school in San
Antonio was named for him in 1921 and he lay in state at the Alamo,
the second person to have that honor. He was interred at San Antonio's
National Cemetery. |
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L- This
picture of Private Barkley is hanging in the new Barkley/Ruiz Elementary
School in San Antonio.
R- Gravesite of Private Barkley at the San Antonio National Cemetery.
Photos courtesy Terry
Jeanson, May 2007 |
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Construction
of the camp began in late1940. The estimated cost to be around $4
million. It was completed in July of 1941 at a cost of $7 million.
Home to the 45th Infantry Division, the camp was also the temporary
home of cartoonist Bill Mauldin, who later became famous for his cartoon
featuring cynical Infantry privates "Willie and Joe." The unshaven,
cigarette-smoking characters were frowned upon by the brass, but so
popular with the enlisted ranks that calls to remove the cartoon from
the Stars and Stripes worried officials that it would negatively
affect troop morale. |
2 Lt.
Calvin S. Chin, 28 NYC
2 Lt. Anthony Loo Wung Wong of Honolulu
These two Chinese-American Officers were the first graduates of the
Army Medical Corps Officer Candidate School.
Photo courtesy Library of Congress |
Other
units at Camp Barkeley included the 90th Infantry Division and the
Eleventh and Twelfth Armored divisions. The Army's Medical Administrative
Officer Candidate School was established at Camp Barkeley in 1942
and they even found room for nearly 900 German POWs. To the embarrassment
of the MPs, twelve prisoners escaped from Camp Barkeley shortly after
their arrival, although all were soon recaptured.
The
camp was deactivated in April of 1945 and dismantled in September
of that year. The cost to the government was over $27 million for
66 months of service. Leased land reverted to its original owners.
Because of the fine example set by the partnership of Camp Barkeley
and Abilene, Dyess
Air Force Base was built there in the 1950s. |
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Photographer's
Note:
Very little remains visible from the roads of the camp. There's
a series of brick structures like the one shown. Have no idea what
they were. There's a lot of concrete roads, but not open for access.
The sign is over the one part that is used, the rife and pistol
range used by the National Guard and by Dyess MP's(?). The hillside
behind the range is littered with what is probably millions of spent
bullets that have eroded out of the ground. As a teenager I could
sit on the ground and pick up more than I could hold within a space
you could reach without moving.
Satellite photos
show how large it was in the built up area. The rest stretched for
miles, and up until the late 50's or 60's there were roadside signs
warning of unexploded munitions. I believe it was in the 70's that
a ranch hand was killed by one he picked up. - Mike
Price, October 15, 2007
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One
of the many roads in Camp Barkeley
Photos courtesy Mike Price, 2007 |
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