HERITAGE MINUTE

There is an artifact in the Academy’s Community Center area that predates the Academy by more than 140 years. 

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In 1813, townspeople in and around Neuville, in the Normandy region of France, raised funds for a church bell.  Before the end of the year, the resultant bell took its place in the church’s Gothic bell tower.  As is customary in France, the bell was given a name - Caroline Antoinette.  The 835-pound bell included 28 pounds of silver, which was said to give the bell its pleasing tone.  In 1950, shortly after-World War II, several churches in the area consolidated, with Neuville’s slated to be demolished.  Caroline Antoinette was sold to raise funds.  The purchasers donated it to a nearby U.S. Air Force Base.  Unable to display it properly, in 1958, base leaders donated the bell, valued at $5,000, to the Air Force Academy.  On 22 January 1967, the Base Chapel in the Community Center was dedicated, with the bell displayed in a 53-foot tower to the west of the building.  Nearly three decades later, in October 1996, the tower and the bell were moved to their current location on the other side of the Chapel, to draw parishioners to the front entrance.  On 11 November 2018, the Academy participated in a collaborative effort known as the “Bells of Peace” to mark the centennial of the Armistice that brought an end to World War I.  Caroline Antoinette tolled at 11 a.m. to commemorate those who served and those who died in what Americans fervently hoped was the “War to End All Wars.”

The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation

A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1977, hockey player Chuck Delich is a living legend and he continues to contribute to the game to this day. Enjoy this conversation with Chuck's classmate and host of the Heritage Minute Special series, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steve Simon ‘77.  

The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation

This is where it all began.  July eleventh, 1955, 306 basic cadets arrived at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado, to begin their journey at the United States Air Force Academy.  ----more----

Not much remains of the former base.  But if you listen intently enough, you can still hear the faint echoes of the first members of the Long Blue Line.  President Dwight Eisenhower signed legislation that established the Air Force Academy on April first, 1954 – Founders Day.  Less than three months later, on June twenty-fourth, Secretary of the Air Force Harold Talbott announced that Colorado Springs would be the Academy’s permanent home.  He also tasked Lieutenant General Hubert Harmon with finding a temporary location in Denver while the Academy's permanent campus was being built.  He chose, Lowry Air Force Base.  Lowry has a rich history.  The Denver branch of the Army Air Corps training school opened for business in the old Agnes Phipps tuberculosis sanitarium on October first, 1937.  A few months after opening, it gained the name Lowry, in honor of Second Lieutenant Francis B. Lowry.  A Denver native, he was killed in France during World War I aerial combat while serving as an artillery observer and aerial photographer for the Army Air Service.  In the early 1950s, Lowry Air Force Base served as the Summer White House for President and Mrs. Eisenhower.  Lowry hosted cadets for a little more than three years, from the Academy’s opening in 1955, until the whole operation moved to its permanent site in late August 1958.  While at Lowry, the Academy established its academic, military, and athletic identities, formalized its Honor Code, chose the falcon as its mascot, and started many traditions that continue to this day.  After the Academy moved south, Lowry continued on as a training installation.  By 1966, however, commercial air traffic from nearby airports had increased and the city grew up around the base.  Flying operations were ended due to concerns about crashes into surrounding residential areas.  In 1991, the Commission on Base Realignment and Closure recommended the base’s closure, citing savings by consolidating training at other locations, the lack of active runways, and the base’s high resale potential.  Lowry Air Force Base ceased to exist on 30 September 1994.  More than a quarter-century later, many remnants of the base remain, and the Academy’s former presence is still felt.  One important structure, Building 880, which served as the Commandant of Cadet’s office, was added to the National Register of Historic Places during a dedication ceremony on September fourth 2007.  Here in Lowry's Hangar One, now home of the Wings Over the Rockies Museum, is a display highlighting the early years of the Academy.  Other Lowry buildings that remain from the Academy years include “The U” Academic buildings, the Eisenhower Chapel, and Hangars One and Two.

The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation

Host, Steve Simon’77, is joined by Colonel (Retired) Randy Helms, USAFA Class of ’79.  Among his many accomplishments, he leads the Association of Graduates’ Class Advisory Senate. The two get into that and many other topics in this conversation.

The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation

When it’s all about holding up our end of the historical preservation and Academy story telling mission… Beginning Sunday, January 5, history makers, observers and your favorite historical story teller, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steve Simon ’77, all meet in the same place the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month and you get to listen in! 

The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation

In the early 1960s, some enterprising residents of Douglass Valley tried to build a neighborhood ski area in the west end of the valley.  ----more----

Evidence of the ski tow structure they built survives to this day.  A Department of Defense map of the academy identified a ski tow in the far south west corner of the academy reservation.  Documents discovered in the McDermott Library’s Special Collections branch contain information about the effort covering the period September 1961 to December 1962.  Planners obtained permission from base leadership and, using non-appropriated funds, built a platform atop the east-west ridge and began clearing some ski runs to the north.  The documents outlined a grand plan for this neighborhood project.  In late 1962, however, the effort was abandoned.  Reasons included a lack of snow, difficulty clearing paths for runs, and problems with the rope system.  Despite its failure, skiing has always been a part of the Academy.  In 1964, Academy personnel organized a ski club to develop, maintain and support skiing and other winter sports.  USAFA had a varsity ski team from 1958 to 1972, which trained at the now-closed Broadmoor Ski Area.  While the Academy no longer has a varsity ski team, it does have competitive cadet clubs devoted to downhill, cross-country, and freestyle skiing and snowboarding.

The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation

The production of USAFA’s cadet sabers has moved from Germany to Colorado Springs. Heritage Minute Special host Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steve Simon ’77 is closely connected with the people and the processes and explains the change.

And there's still more. Steve serves the Association of Graduates and Foundation as writer and historian. As a recognized authority on all things Sabre Society, Steve wrote a feature piece for the December 2024 edition of Checkpoints Magazine on the Sabre Society's 30 anniversary year and a major change in the manufacture of USAFA's cadet sabres. That article is linked below as a free downloadable PDF file.

In addition to his Checkpoints piece, he has also hosted two Heritage Minute Special podcasts, collaborated with the AOG's Ryan Hall to produce a companion video (embedded below), and much more.   

READ MORE BY STEVE SIMON IN THE DECEMBER 2024 CHECKPOINTS

*FREE PDF DOWNLOAD*

MORE ON THE SABRE SOCIETY HERE

The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation

Almost all of the Air Force Academy football games are televised, drawing large national audiences.  ----more----

For most of those viewers, Falcon Stadium is their primary view of the Academy.  Consequently, it is important that the facility help tell the story of the Academy and the Air Force.  That was the rationale behind recent efforts to utilize the stadium as a venue to inform and inspire fans.  Air Force and Academy leaders and historians adopted an idea already in use at the Naval Academy’s War Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, in which they display the names of some of their most historic events.  Phase I of the Air Force Academy’s signage project is in place, highlighting five major air campaigns:  Berlin Airlift, the 1948–1949 operation to supply Berlin with food and other supplies after the Soviet Union blockaded the city, closing all road and rail links;  Allied Force, the 1999 air campaign in Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War;  Inherent Resolve, the 2014 campaign to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria;  Desert Storm, the 1991 operation to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation;  and Linebacker II, the December 1972 bombing campaign to force North Vietnam leadership to agree to a peace treaty.  Phase II of the Falcon Stadium heritage project could add an additional 20 campaigns.  In addition to that signage, depictions of the forty cadet squadrons’ patches were added to the tunnel used by the teams.

The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation

Before there was an Air Force Academy, the 18,500 acres that now host USAFA had a few settlements, most notably the small community called Husted.  ----more----

Located just south of the Academy’s North Gate bridge along the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad and the New Santa Fe Regional Trail, Husted began in the early 1870s.  Railroaders and citizens of the area chose to name the community after local lumberman Calvin Husted.  Husted grew into an important stop on the Santa Fe and the Denver & Rio Grande Railroads, with a grocery store, a café, a church and a school.  Residents included railroad workers, ranchers and entrepreneurs.  One descendent of these pioneers, David McAloy, graduated from the Academy in 2003.  Sadly, Husted was the site of a horrible tragedy.  On 14 August 1909, two passenger trains collided head-on.  Twelve people were killed and another 42 were injured. Incidentally, one of those killed was train crewmember James A. Gossage, grandfather of future Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Rick “Goose” Gossage.  As long as trains were the primary mode of transportation, Husted thrived.  In the 1920s, however, progress overtook the town.  The automobile began to supplant the railroad, and a new highway, U.S. 85-87 – now Interstate-25 – was built.  With that, the town began to fade away.  In fact, by the time the Academy was being planned in 1954, it was virtually a ghost town.  The only remaining Husted building is the Reynolds House, built in 1894, near what is now the Western Museum of Mining and Industry.  The land in and around Husted did make one more contribution, however, serving as the location of the concrete plant that supported the construction of the Cadet Area.

The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation

The Sabre Society came into existence 30 years ago when the Air Force Academy joined with the Association of Graduates in 1995 to sign a MOU. ----more----

Thus the Sabre Society was established. Since then, a great many programs have been funded benefiting USAFA and its cadets. Join founder, Col. (Ret.) John Kelly ’65 and Heritage Minute Special host Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steve Simon ’77 for an inside look at the organization.

The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation