Memorial Day 2021 in Tonopah and Hawthorne

Tonopah dedicated a new memorial on Memorial Day 2021. It honors the airmen who died in training during World War II at the Tonopah Army Air Field, carrying the names of all 121 of the deceased.

Tonopah resident and former Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley initiated the effort to create the memorial. She was surprised to learn that there were many servicemen who were stationed in Tonopah and through non-combat roles had lost their lives while on duty. “Over the years 121 airmen died here, some in training incidents, some in a barracks fire, some from illness,” she said. “If they died here and wore the uniform, they deserved to be honored.” 

The Tonopah Air Force Base was known as the Tonopah Army Air Field in WWII. It was home to the Stealth Bomber in the 1980s. The 60×90 mile area has had many military names and designations, going back to at least the 1930s. Overtaken by time and larger bases such as Nellis and Creech, two of the Tonopah military runways are still in use and maintained by Nye County.

Eastley began to collect vintage news articles and web information about former Tonopah Air Force personnel and ended up with a scrapbook full of history. She envisioned the idea of a memorial in the town, and the more she thought about it and discussed it with others, the more it started to gel as a future reality. There was much encouragement. “My father is 90 and served in the Ohio National Guard. When I told him about a possible memorial he said, ‘You have to do this.’” 

Eastley knew she couldn’t do it alone. She met with Tonopah resident Bob Perchetti, chairman of the town’s Murals and Monuments Committee, a part of the area’s Main Street Program promoting town improvements. He was extremely supportive and led the charge for donations. But he gives credit to Eastley. “It was her idea,” he explained. “It would never have happened if not for her.”

The memorial is installed next to the meeting hall of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). The VFW is the caretaker of the property and memorial. Another part of the monument is a Pratt & Whitney engine from a B-24D Liberator Bomber. The plane it was powering crashed in Nevada on a training mission that took off from Tonopah on December 2, 1944, killing six airmen. The engine was donated by the Central Nevada Historical Society. 

Hawthorne also marked Memorial Day 2021 with a ceremony. Below are photos from Hawthorne event.

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