Tags
- Landmark Historical Place
- Military Base
- Landmark & Historical Place
Description
Fort Morrow Army Airfield is a former United States Army airfield 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. Following its closure, it was redeveloped into Port Heiden Airport.HistoryThe field was built in 1942 after the World War II 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.
