FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – Fresno Yosemite International Airport transports millions of passengers each year . It is constantly being renovated to meet the demands of travelers, but before it was the airport we all know, it was originally a World War II U.S. Army Air Force base.
Fresno’s Airport was known as a military base called Hammer Field, according to the 144th Fighter Wing website . The website says that the site of the Fresno Air National Guard Base has been used for military activation since World War II.
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According to the California Military Department of Military History and Museums Programs, Hammer Field was named in honor of Lt. Earl M. Hammer. Hammer was California’s first World War I American to be killed in action while behind German lines on March 19, 1918.
The website states that in early 1941, the War Department decided that the space and facility at the then Bakersfield Airport, Chandler Field, were inadequate for a military field. They then chose a site east of Fresno for the new Hammer Field.