Navy Landing Airfield (NALF) Waldron

In support of the base’s training mission are two nearby outlying landing fields owned by the Navy: Navy Landing Airfield (NALF) Waldron, which is 3.5 miles from the Air Station; and NALF Cabaniss, which is 8.0 miles from the Air Station.

Waldron Field was named 5 March 1943, prior to establishing of station, in honor of Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron, killed in action leading the attack of Torpedo Squadron 8 in the Battle of Midway; 4 June 1942. The former NAAS now an OLF to NAS Corpus Christi.

On August 10, 1941, Waldron became commander of Torpedo Squadron 8, based on the USS Hornet. Waldron was forty-one when he was killed in the Battle of Midway, the turning point of the war in the Pacific. Flying without fighter protection and without sufficient fuel in which to make it back to his carrier, Waldron, leading the rest of his Torpedo Squadron 8, delivered an attack against the Japanese on June 4, 1942. Battling fierce Japanese fire, Waldron’s squadron had little chance. He and others tried to escape their planes as they were hit, but few were successful. Of the fifteen planes and thirty men, only one officer lived to tell of the heroic leadership of Lt. Cmdr. Waldron. It is apparent that Waldron’s outstanding leadership motivated his men to die for him and with him and the cause for which they stood.

An airfield at Corpus Christi, Texas, was named for Cmdr. Waldron in April of 1943. A destroyer, USS Waldron, also became his namesake. In addition, a street in Ft. Pierre, South Dakota is named for John Waldron, WW II hero.