Hundreds Turn Out for Willow Grove Air Base Final Flight Ceremony
Operations at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base will cease on Sept. 15
Wednesday marked the end of a 68-year era for Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base as military planes took their final flights. Several hundred veterans, local residents and dignitaries filled the air base’s hangar for the disestablishment ceremony in preparation for the base’s complete closure on Sept. 15. Navy Vice Admiral Dirk J. Debbink said the base has played an important role in the lives of military, as well as the community as a whole since its establishment as Naval Air Station Willow Grove in 1943. “Willow Grove represented the kind of neighborhood base that’s part of the community,” Debbink said during the hour-long ceremony, which featured flag presentations and performances by the military band. “Even to …
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Jill Kolin Castagna
12:50 pm on Sunday, May 15, 2011
I was born and raised 2 blocks from the"Grove". If you didn't like noise, it was not the place to live. I am so sorry the Navy could not find a way to keep it open. So many men and women met their spouses and good friends there. I didn't realize how much I missed the Jets until I recently visited the Naval Museum in Pensacola Naval Air Station. I tell you-all, when those Jets flew overhead, my … more ›