by dude h homeslice ix » Mon Jul 17, 2006 6:14 pm
The list of American military pilots trained at North Island reads like the Who's Who of aviation; however, America was not the only country interested in aviation early in the twentieth century. Six years before the Naval Air Station was commissioned, Glenn Curtiss, the famed aviation pioneer and later aircraft manufacturer, trained the first group of Japanese aviators at his flying school on the Island. Among them was a LT C. Yamada would later become infamous as the head of Japan's Naval aviation in World War II.<br><br><br><br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.nasni.navy.mil/history.htm">www.nasni.navy.mil/history.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Quote:<br>During the Second World War, the land between North and South Coronado, called the Spanish Bight, was filled a part of the base where most of the administrative and recreational buildings now stand. When approaching Flag Circle from the front gate, the last tiled roof building on the left was the original gate guard building as evidenced by the Army Air Corps insignia, a pair of flight wings bisected by a single blade propeller, carved in the window shutters. During World War II North Island was the major continental U.S. base supporting the operating forces in the Pacific. Those forces included over a dozen aircraft carriers, the Coast Guard, Army, Marines and Seabees. The city of Coronado became home to most of the aircraft factory workers and dependents of the mammoth base which was operating around the clock. Major USO entertainment shows and bond drives were held weekly at the Ship's Service auditorium which was later replaced by the 2,100 seat Lowry Theater. Big band singers and movie stars were stationed here or on ships home ported here during the war years including Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Future television cowboy star of the 50s and 60s, Guy Madison, who starred as Wild Bill Hickok, was still Seaman Bob Mosely, a lifeguard at the NAS crews' pool. Stars like the Marx Bros and Bob Hope appeared regularly at USO shows at the auditorium. <p></p><i></i>