What is this? An ammo dump?

[TooPlaneCrazy7]

Hello everyone,
I've been lurking in this group for quite a bit and have really enjoyed some
of the conversations. Now, I am asking for your help in identifying something
that I just found recently:

I live in South Texas near the Mexican border. There is a national park nearby
called "Laguna Atascosa (Muddy Lagoon)" which, by the way, holds the record for
the highest number of diverse bird species that can be seen in one day. This is
a bird watcher's paradise since thousands migrate from the northern states to
the warmer, tropical temperatures that can be found in the Rio Grande Valley of
Texas. Anyways, this area is also the supposed location of where one of the
Spanish explorers (I forget the name) shipwrecked around the 14/1500s. Even to
this day, people are reportedly finding gold coins and other artifacts.

But, what I wanted to ask the group is if they have any information about a
particular army air corps base that used to inhabit this area during WWII. It
is now a country airport with very sparse traffic. But, just north of the base
are a couple of gunnery ranges which you can see here
(http://www.texasairmuseum.com/coast.htm). If you scroll to the bottom you'll
see the base as it looks today. While looking at these gunnery ranges one day,
we came upon a couple of bunkers that were hidden amongst the brush a couple of
miles from the nearest road. You can see our journey here:
(http://www.texasairmuseum.com/ammo1.htm) and the second page contains what I
am trying to find out. Since the gunnery ranges were nearby, do you think these
little bunkers held the ammo? Someone once said that these bunkers were
probably hurricane shelters since the base was so close to the coastline.

What do you guys think? By the way, here's a picture of the base during WWII:
http://www.texasairmuseum.com/airacobra.htm

Thanks for any help or research on this base and its history.

[Steven P. McNicoll]

"TooPlaneCrazy7" > wrote in message
...
>
> Hello everyone,
> I've been lurking in this group for quite a bit and have really enjoyed
some
> of the conversations. Now, I am asking for your help in identifying
something
> that I just found recently:
>
> I live in South Texas near the Mexican border. There is a national park
nearby
> called "Laguna Atascosa (Muddy Lagoon)" which, by the way, holds the
record for
> the highest number of diverse bird species that can be seen in one day.
This is
> a bird watcher's paradise since thousands migrate from the northern states
to
> the warmer, tropical temperatures that can be found in the Rio Grande
Valley of
> Texas. Anyways, this area is also the supposed location of where one of
the
> Spanish explorers (I forget the name) shipwrecked around the 14/1500s.
Even to
> this day, people are reportedly finding gold coins and other artifacts.
>
> But, what I wanted to ask the group is if they have any information about
a
> particular army air corps base that used to inhabit this area during WWII.
It
> is now a country airport with very sparse traffic. But, just north of the
base
> are a couple of gunnery ranges which you can see here
> (http://www.texasairmuseum.com/coast.htm). If you scroll to the bottom
you'll
> see the base as it looks today. While looking at these gunnery ranges one
day,
> we came upon a couple of bunkers that were hidden amongst the brush a
couple of
> miles from the nearest road. You can see our journey here:
> (http://www.texasairmuseum.com/ammo1.htm) and the second page contains
what I
> am trying to find out. Since the gunnery ranges were nearby, do you think
these
> little bunkers held the ammo? Someone once said that these bunkers were
> probably hurricane shelters since the base was so close to the coastline.
>
> What do you guys think? By the way, here's a picture of the base during
WWII:
> http://www.texasairmuseum.com/airacobra.htm
>
> Thanks for any help or research on this base and its history.
>

I believe the range you're referring to is the former Laguna Madre Gunnery
Range of the USAAF. The airfield, present-day Port Isabel-Cameron County
Airport, is the former Port Isabel Naval Auxiliary Air Station.

[TooPlaneCrazy7]

>Heres a news story about the ones in Hawaii with a couple of pictures
>however the Navy calls them "magazines" no bunkers...

There's an interesting painting on one of these bunkers/magazines. It is a war
time drawing of a WWII drill sargeant who says "You are only half way there,
fellas".

No idea what this could mean. The base was a lot more than "half way" there.

[Thomas Schoene]

"TooPlaneCrazy7" > wrote in message

> > Heres a news story about the ones in Hawaii with a couple of
> > pictures however the Navy calls them "magazines" no bunkers...
>
> There's an interesting painting on one of these bunkers/magazines. It
> is a war time drawing of a WWII drill sargeant who says "You are only
> half way there, fellas".
>
> No idea what this could mean. The base was a lot more than "half way"
> there.

More that half way where? I woudn't read that very litterally.
Metaphorically, Hawaii was very much half way from the United States to the
Pacific battlegrounds.

Or perhaps it's a reference to VE day -- a reminder that even after the fall
of Germany, half the war remained to be won.

--
Tom Schoene Replace "invalid" with "net" to e-mail
"If brave men and women never died, there would be nothing
special about bravery." -- Andy Rooney (attributed)