Editing Laughlin Air Force Base (section)

=== Laughlin Army Air Field ===
[[File:Laughlin Army Airfield Texas photo pictorial.pdf|thumb|269x269px|Laughlin Army Air Field photo pictorial|alt=|left]]Laughlin AFB was originally named Laughlin Army Air Field on March 3, 1943, after [[Jack T. Laughlin]], a [[B-17E Flying Fortress]] pilot. He was trained as a pilot and was actually co-pilot of B-17E, tail number 41-2476.  On the day of his first bombing mission, he was bumped by the Group Commander Major Stanley K. Robinson (Robinson was co-pilot next to pilot Capt. Walter W. Sparks).  Major Robinson brought along his own combat-experienced navigator, Lt. Richard Cease.  Laughlin had no assigned position on the plane for the mission.  He became Del Rio's first [[World War II]] casualty when the plane he was flying in (most likely as a waist gunner for the mission) was lost at sea, having succumbed to damage received over the [[Makassar Strait]] on 29 (or 28) January 1942.  The damage occurred during two bombing runs against [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] warships and transports in the Makassar Strait off the coast of Balikpapan, Borneo.  The field became simply Laughlin Field on November 11, 1943, and later an [[U.S. Army Air Forces]] Auxiliary Field. During World War II, Laughlin's primary mission was the training of [[Martin B-26 Marauder|B-26 Marauder]] pilots and aircrews. It was closed in October 1945.