Have you ever wondered how the streets surrounding the Santa Barbara Airport were named? For example, who were David Love, Augustus Griggs and Clyde Adams? They were among the 49 local aviators who lost their lives during World War II.
The Goleta Valley Historical Society will host a lecture, With Their Eyes Turned Skyward: Santa Barbara’s Fallen Aviators of World War II, on Sunday, Aug. 19, by community historian Michel Nellis and Santa Barbara Airport director Karen Ramsdell. The presentation is based on their recent book of the same name, which chronicles the untold stories of the 48 local men and one woman who put their lives on hold for freedom and made the ultimate sacrifice.
In May 2009, a memorial was erected at the Santa Barbara Airport to honor the fallen aviators.
“Some, like Betty Stine, Rex Eckles, Jack Peres and Kenneth Roberts gave up college and enlisted,” according to the authors. “Others left jobs and families to serve. Some became pilots; others bombardiers, navigators, paratroopers or aircraft support personnel. Several died stateside; most died in accidents in the Pacific, Europe,or Africa. Robert Newman, an ace fighter pilot, died on the infamous Bataan Death March in 1942. Cecil Cook was aboard a prisoner of war ship when it was inadvertently torpedoed by the Allies as it was leaving one of the Philippine Islands.”
The book took 18 months to research and includes interviews with family members and friends of the aviators, newspaper accounts of their service, and resources detailing types of aircraft flown and theaters of operation throughout the world.
Nellis has researched and written about several areas of Santa Barbara County, including the commercial area of Guadalupe, the rural areas of the Lompoc Valley and Foxen Canyon, Santa Barbara’s Mission Canyon District, the hedgerows of Montecito, and parts of the Carpinteria Valley. She is a member of several local historical societies and enjoys genealogy, travel adventures and supporting a girl’s school in Ghana, West Africa, through her nonprofit organization, Women to Women International.
Ramsdell is the Santa Barbara Airport director, a position she has held since 1987. She directs the entire operation and maintenance of the airport, overseeing a $13 million budget. She is active in professional organizations and in 2000 was named Executive of the Year by the Southwest Chapter of the American Association of Airport Executives. Her commitment and dedication to community issues is demonstrated by her membership in the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Santa Barbara Region Chamber of Commerce. She also serves on the board of directors of the Goleta Valley Historical Society.
Both authors have spoken extensively in the community about these aviators and their service to their country.
The lecture is the third in a series produced by Goleta Valley Historical Society in conjunction with its current exhibition, “Avenge Ellwood!” The Japanese Attack on California, which is on display through Dec. 30 in the History Education Center at Rancho La Patera & Stow House, 304 N. Los Carneros Road. The exhibition commemorates the 70th anniversary of the Ellwood Shelling, when on Feb. 23, 1942, a Japanese submarine surfaced at sundown off of Ellwood Mesa and fired its deck cannon at the tidelands oil-production facilities clustered along the shore. The shelling followed the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged the United States into World War II. Visitors can experience the exhibit from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Reservations are required to attend the lecture at 1 p.m. Aug. 19. Entrance is complimentary for Goleta Valley Historical Society members and $10 for guests. Click here for more information on the lecture, or call 805.681.7216.
Copies of the book, With Their Eyes Turned Skyward: Santa Barbara’s Fallen Aviators of World War II, are available in the Museum Store at Rancho La Patera & Stow House.
— Dacia Harwood is director of events and marketing for the Goleta Valley Historical Society.