Fort Morrow Army Airfield is a former

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

airfield and radar station located six

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today ...

s (7 mi, 11 km) northeast of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

Port Heiden Port Heiden (Alutiiq: ) is a city in Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city is 100, slightly down from 102 in 2010. Geography and climate Port Heiden is located at (56.948949, -158.6 ...

, in the

Lake and Peninsula Borough Lake and Peninsula Borough (russian: Лейк-энд-Пенинсула, ''Leyk-end-Peninsula'') is a Borough (United States)#Alaska, borough in the U.S. state, state of Alaska. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population wa ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. Following its closure and remediation of toxic substances, it was redeveloped into

Port Heiden Airport Port Heiden Airport is a state-owned public-use airport located six nautical miles (7 mi, 11 km) northeast of the central business district of Port Heiden, in the Lake and Peninsula Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. Sched ...

. Two early American forts were also called "Fort Morrow". One was a stockade built in Ohio during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, now in

Delaware State Park Delaware State Park is a public recreation area on U.S. Route 23 near the city of Delaware in Delaware County, Ohio, in the United States. It is open for year-round recreation including camping, hiking, boating, hunting, fishing, and picnicki ...

. Another in Tennessee was built under the direction of Capt. John Morrow and usually called "Fort Marr"; it confined the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

in 1837 shortly before the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...

and is now part of Hiwassee/Ocoee Scenic River State Park.

History

The field was built in 1942 after the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Japanese attack on the Aleutian Islands. On June 17, 1942 the United States Army established a garrison of 1,400 officers and enlisted men at Port Heiden on the north side of the Alaska Peninsula, with the mission of developing and holding an air base intermediate between the Kodiak and Cold Bay fields, this new garrison becoming the Army's Fort Morrow Army Airfield. The airfield did not have any permanent assigned units during the war, but hosted numerous temporary assigned USAAF and Naval Air units during the Aleutian Campaign and aided in the defense of Kodiak Island.

References

* {{USAAF 11th Air Force World War II Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Alaska Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command in Alaska Closed installations of the United States Army

History

See also

References