The commemorative bricks that surrounded the flag sculpture and a bust of the base’s namesake, Lt. George E.M. Kelly, also will be put on display.
I have another bit of history you might want to track down. A few years ago , the Kelly Veterans Monument — along with all the inscribed bricks on the surrounding walkway — was removed from its location on General Hudnell Drive .
The monument was dedicated in 1994. It was supposed to be re-erected elsewhere on Tech Port, but where? — Greg Ripps In August 1991, Kelly AFB announced plans for a memorial to military veterans and civilian supporters. More than $50,000 was raised toward its construction by the Kelly AFB Veterans Committee through the sale of bricks personalized with the names of individuals, families and organizations from all over the country. S.A. MILITARY HISTORY: Historic wooden structure at Port San Antonio could be early flight control tower for Kelly AFB Originally, the monument was intended to be a memorial to Gulf War veterans of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, but its mission soon was expanded to include veterans from the Revolutionary War onward. The monument was dedicated in May 1992 during Armed Forces Week as the focal point of a new memorial park at what was then just outside Kelly’s main gate. A stainless-steel sculpture of a rippling American flag stood on a black granite base, inscribed “One Flag, One Land, One Heart, One Hand, One Nation Evermore,” a quote from the poem “The Voyage of the Good Ship Union” by Oliver Wendell Holmes. It was set within a plaza made of hundreds of commemorative bricks, and a granite stand was placed in front, stating: “The American flag stands before the world as a guiding symbol of liberty and freedom. This monument is dedicated to the men and women who, in times of conflict, have responded with a tireless and unwavering devotion to uphold and defend these ideals.” S.A. MILITARY HISTORY: Air Force’s XC-99, the ‘Goliath of the Skies,’ has had a rough ride since retirement Other artifacts added to the area included historical markers and sculptures of people who played a role in building Kelly Field from the U.S. military’s first flying field in 1917 into a training center for pilots and then into the nation’s largest aircraft maintenance and supply facility by 1943. One of them was Lt. George E.M. Kelly, a British-born officer who learned to fly in San Diego, Calif., and crashed at Fort Sam Houston in 1911. Although he managed to avoid injuring anyone, he was killed in the crash. Flights at the Army Post were halted, and the new South San Antonio Training Camp was established and named after Kelly. Other famous flyers who trained at Kelly included Charles Lindbergh , who went on to make the first solo trans-Atlantic flight; San Antonio’s own World War I ace, Edgar Tobin and Claire Chennault, a leader of the “Flying Tigers” American Volunteer Group in Asia during World War II. S.A. MILITARY HISTORY: Kelly planes crashed four months apart The end of Kelly AFB as such was announced in 1995. After it closed in 2001, parts of the base were transferred as Kelly Field Annex to nearby Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, and much of the rest was redeveloped into Port San Antonio, an aerospace industrial complex. During ongoing redevelopment of this property, the veterans monument was removed, along with “an array of different artifacts highlighting the history of the former base,” said Paco Felici, Port San Antonio’s chief communications officer. That includes a bust of namesake George Kelly, the inscribed bricks and the flag sculpture, all of which were “carefully removed and cataloged” early in 2020 to prepare for construction of a new building on the southeastern corner of General Hudnell and General McMullen drives. These artifacts and others in the former memorial area have been placed in secure storage. S.A. MILITARY HISTORY: WWII planes named ‘San Antonio Rose’ “Since that time, we’ve continued to develop and add new spaces across the campus that are growing the Port as a destination for people from near and far,” Felici said. “We have plans to relocate all the components of the initial Kelly plaza so they can be seen by the people who built Kelly’s legacy, their family members and thousands of new visitors.” A team of architects and designers are working on plans for placement of the artifacts near the new development as well as in areas of historic significance, such as the Bungalow Colony, a 100-year-old complex of officers quarters under restoration. “We want to make sure the artifacts will be prominent and easy to get to,” with ample parking and pedestrian access, Felici said. Location and design are expected to be finalized in the months ahead and “items should begin relocation in early 2025.” historycolumn@yahoo.com | X : @sahistorycolumn | Facebook: SanAntoniohistorycolumn
S.A. Kelly AFB Veterans Committee Armed Forces Air Force American Volunteer Group Joint Base San Antonio Lackland George E.M. Charles Lindbergh Paco Felici Claire Chennault Greg Ripps Mcmullen George Kelly One Nation Oliver Wendell Holmes Edgar Tobin Sanantoniohistorycolumn Kelly AFB Port San Antonio General Hudnell Drive Port San Antonio Bungalow Colony The American XC-99 South San Antonio Training Camp Port U.S. San Diego British Evermore Fort Sam Houston Calif. Army Post Atlantic Asia World War II Gulf War Revolutionary War World War I Tech Port MILITARY HISTORY Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm Historycolumn@Yahoo.Com | X Twitter @Sahistorycolumn Facebook The Voyage Of The Good Ship Union Goliath Of The Skies One Heart San Antonio Rose
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