Sewart Air Force Base
Smyrna, Rutherford County, Tennessee
Marker Inscription
In Memory of Major Allan J. Sewart, Jr. USAF Who was killed in action November 1942 in the Pacific Theatre of operations World War II
The Story
During World War II the airfield outside Smyrna became one of the many training bases that transformed sleepy Southern towns into hubs of the American war effort. This memorial honors Major Allan J. Sewart, Jr., a Tennessee airman lost in the Pacific theater in 1942, whose name the installation later carried in tribute. It is a reminder that behind every base name stood a real person and a real loss.
Why it matters
It captures how rural Tennessee was swept into the vast home-front and air-power buildup of World War II, and how the sacrifice of a single airman gave a national military installation its lasting name.
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Related people
- · Major Allan J. Sewart, Jr.
Related events
- · World War II
- · Pacific Theater
Themes & tags
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