![CadetsmarchingNASLivermore1944](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/CadetsmarchingNASLivermore1944.jpg)
Naval Air Station Livermore was a
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
military facility located in
Livermore, California
Livermore (formerly Livermorès, Livermore Ranch, and Nottingham) is a city in Alameda County, California. With a 2020 population of 87,955, Livermore is the most populous city in the Tri-Valley. It is located on the eastern edge of Californ ...
.
History
This station was built in 1942 four miles east of Livermore to relieve overcrowding of the naval air facilities at
Naval Air Station Oakland
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
. The primary mission of the base was to train pilots. On 5 January 1951, the Bureau of Yards and Docks, U.S. Navy, formally transferred the former NAS Livermore in its entirety to the
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) for use by the University of California's Radiation Laboratory. Although the Public Buildings Service, General Services Administration, was informed that the facility was surplus, documentation supports the direct transfer of the former NAS Livermore from the U.S. Navy to the
Atomic Energy Commission and redeveloped into the
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a federal research facility in Livermore, California, United States. The lab was originally established as the University of California Radiation Laboratory, Livermore Branch in 1952 in response ...
.
On March 12, 1944, the
Jack Benny Radio Program broadcast live at the base.
Jack Benny
Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...
,
Don Wilson (announcer)
Don Wilson (September 1, 1900 – April 25, 1982) was an American announcer and actor in radio programming, radio and television, with a Falstaffian vocal presence, remembered best as the rotund announcer and comic foil to the star of ''The Jack ...
,
Dennis Day
Dennis Day (born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty; May 21, 1916 – June 22, 1988) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He was of Irish descent.
Early life
Day was born and raised in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx, New York City, the ...
,
Mary Livingstone
Mary Livingstone (born Sadya Marcowitz, later known as Sadie Marks; June 25, 1905–June 30, 1983) was an American radio comedienne and actress. She was the wife and radio partner of comedian Jack Benny.
Enlisted casually to perform on her h ...
,
Phil Harris
Wonga Philip Harris (June 24, 1904 – August 11, 1995) was an American actor, comedian, musician and songwriter. He was an orchestra leader and a pioneer in radio situation comedy, first with ''The Jack Benny Program'', then in '' The Phil Harr ...
, and
Eddie "Rochester" Anderson
Edmund Lincoln Anderson (September 18, 1905 – February 28, 1977) was an American comedian and actor. To a generation of early radio and television comedy he was known as "Rochester".
Anderson entered show business as a teenager on the vaudevi ...
were the cast.
Actor
Robert Taylor (actor) (August 5, 1911 - June 8, 1969) served in the United States Naval Corp from 1943 to 1945. In January 1944, he started serving as a flight instructor at Livermore.
Outlying fields
NAS Livermore had the following
outlying fields (OLFs) during the war (1943-1945):
*
Abel Field
*
Brown-Fabian Airport
*
Cope Field
*
Gelderman Airport
*
Heath Airport
*
Linderman Airport
*
Livermore Airport
*
May's School Field
*
Rita Butterworth Airport
*
Spring Valley Airport
*
Wagoner Airport
Wagoner may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Wagoner, Arizona
* Wagoner, Indiana
* Wagoner, Oklahoma
* Wagoner County, Oklahoma
* Wagoner, West Virginia
People
* A person who drives a wagon, a Coachman
* Wagoner (surname)
Other uses
* Va ...
See also
*
California during World War II
California during World War II was a major contributor to the World War II effort. California's long Pacific Ocean coastline provided the support needed for the Pacific War. California also supported the war in Europe. After the Japanese attac ...
*
American Theater (1939–1945)
The American Theater was a theater of operations during World War II including all continental American territory, and extending into the ocean.
Owing to North and South America's geographical separation from the central theaters of ...
*
United States home front during World War II
The United States home front during World War II supported the war effort in many ways, including a wide range of volunteer efforts and submitting to government-managed Rationing in the United States, rationing and price controls. There was a gen ...
References
External links
Historic California Posts: Naval Air Station, Livermore
Livermore
Installations of the United States Navy in California
Livermore, California
Military facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area
Military installations closed in the 1950s
{{Navy-stub
Closed installations of the United States Navy