- Eugene Hoy Barksdale
Lieutenant Eugene Hoy Barksdale (
November 5 ,1896 –August 11 1926 ) was a noted aviator and was a First Lieutenant in the Air Corps for the United States Army.Barksdale Air Force Base (or "Barksdale Air Field") in Bossier City/Shreveport, Louisiana was dedicated to Lt. Barksdale on February 2, 1933.Childhood
Born November 5, 1897, in Goshen Springs, Mississippi. Barksdale had one brother and five sisters. Barksdale attended Mississippi State College for three years before leaving to enter officers training camp at Fort Logan H. Roots in
Little Rock, Arkansas . He volunteered for the aviation section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a Private First Class.Life and career
Barksdale volunteered for the aviation section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a Private First Class. He received flight training with the
Royal Flying Corps and was assigned to the 41st Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, in 1918. In 1919, Barksdale was assigned toMitchel Field , Long Island, where he married Lura Lee Dunn in 1921.Death
Barksdale died
August 11 ,1926 overMcCook Field ,Dayton, Ohio while testing aDouglas O-2 observation airplane for spin characteristics. He did not recover from a flat spin while parachuting out of the plane, and his parachute was caught in the wing's brace wires, causing Barksdale to fall to his death.Mueller, Robert, "Air Force Bases Volume 1: Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982", United States Air Force Historical Research Center, Office of Air Force History, Washington, D.C., 1989, ISBN 0-912799-53-6, page 15.] He was buried with full military honors inArlington National Cemetery .ee also
References
More information about Lt. Barksdale can be found here:
* [http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ehbarksdale.htm Arlington National Cemetery Website] --a brief biography and tribute to Lt. Barksdale
* [http://www.barksdale.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=4409 Barksdale Air Force Base] --the base provides information about its dedication to its namesakeExternal links
*findagrave|6655 Retrieved on
2008-02-10
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