(Editor’s note: The staff at Freeman Municipal Airport recently celebrated the former U.S. Army air base’s 80th birthday with activities that included a cookout July 14 for airport employees, board members and their spouses. The site of the military base was selected in May 1942. Many farms were purchased and homes were removed to make way for the base. One cemetery was moved, as well. All nonmilitary personnel had to move by June 30, 1942, as it was closed to the public July 1, 1942. The field was activated as a military base Dec. 1, 1942. City interns Brandon Rodriguez and Paul Bontrager wrote a brief history of the field and what the airport means to the community as part of the celebration).
Seymour is rapidly changing. While some of us believe Seymour has stayed the same, you would be mistaken. Seymour has changed tremendously over the past 50 years.
For example, our community is becoming increasingly diverse, larger businesses are bringing more jobs and improvements and additions are being made to city parks.
When you think of Seymour, most people think about John Mellencamp, the Oktoberfest, Cars and Guitars and so forth, but one big part of Seymour’s history we may overlook is our airport.
Freeman Field was established in May 1942 and covers 4 square miles. It replaced 27 farms totaling 2,600 acres of land. When the airport was being constructed, there was no environmental impact study. The concrete for one runway was poured under circus tents during cold weather.
The entirety of the airport at that time included 413 buildings, 12 miles of roads, 24 miles of drainage ditches, 27 miles of storm sewers, 8 miles of sanitary sewers and 14 miles of water lines, and almost a mile of rail siding was built in just nine months.
The airport was named after Capt. Richard Freeman, who died in a B-17 crash near Lovelock, Nevada, in February 1941. About 5,000 people were stationed at the field during the peak of operations, nearly doubling the population of Seymour, which was about 8,000 at that time.
The pilots who trained at Freeman Field had been through basic flight school and already knew how to fly. They were here to learn multi-engine aircraft operations and flight solely by reference to instruments. From Freeman Field, they went to their third and final level of training at another base to learn to fly bombers and transports.
The 477th Bomb Group, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, was transferred to Freeman Field. The Black pilots were here for only five weeks, and during that time, the Freeman Field Mutiny, an attempt to integrate the white officer’s club, ensued. There were no serious injuries, but three Black officers were court-martialed. Only one was found guilty.
The incident served as a catalyst for the desegregation of the U.S. armed services.
Freeman Field was designated as the Foreign Aircraft Evaluation Center in 1945, and 160 enemy aircraft, including German jets, V-1 buzz bombs and V-2 rockets, were shipped here.
One combat pilot was killed in 1945 while evaluating a Focke-Wulf Fw-190. The foreign aircraft evaluation period came to an end.
The remaining whole aircraft were sent to museums around the country. Parts from disassembled aircraft were buried on the field, and Freeman Field was closed as a base.
In 1947, Freeman Army Airfield was deeded to the city of Seymour. It is now the city airport, an industrial park and an agricultural area. There are approximately 60 businesses and organizations located in the industrial park, and 1,400 agricultural acres are leased to five area farm tenants.
Interestingly, with the deed given to the city, it also specified Freeman Field was able to be taken back at any time if necessary. While it is unlikely, the U.S. military is able to take back Freeman Field when needed.
Don Furlow, Seymour’s airport manager of 22 years, must be available 24/7 to answer emergency phone calls, such as broken-down planes, snow on the runways and other emergencies that may occur. In addition to emergency calls, Furlow ensures the fuel tanks that pilots use to refill their planes have an ample supply of fuel that is readily available.
With the assistance of his maintenance team, Doug Eaton, Paul Carpenter and Mike Nowling, the airport is maintained, from lawn care to building maintenance and much more. These are just a few of the multiple tasks that his team must accomplish every day. The airport staff consists of five full-time employees, who operate under the direction of a board of five.
Currently, the airport sees, on average, about 10 to 15 planes a day. Many of these planes arrive from all over the region, but there also are more than 30 pilots who store their planes permanently at the airport.
For those pilots visiting the airport, they can obtain some of the cheapest jet fuel prices within a 100-mile radius. Revenues from jet fuel sales help with operational costs.
But that is not the only way the airport is self-sustaining.
The airport also rents land in the industrial park to different businesses that are stationed at Freeman Field. Businesses such as Valeo, Pepsico and Lannett Co. are just a few of the companies with plants in the industrial park. The farm ground rent also plays a role in keeping the airport a self-sustaining business.
Visions for the future of the airport are endless with many businesses coming to the industrial park at Freeman Field, adding more jobs for the city and helping boost the economy.
There are visions to perhaps extend the runway and make the airport a reliever field for any surrounding major airports, such as Indianapolis, Louisville or Cincinnati. There also are ideas that perhaps a major company like FedEx may need to expand due to the limited land available in Louisville, which may allow them to find an airport with a vast majority of land they can use for their business operations.
Freeman Municipal Airport has ample land a company can use, which would allow for more jobs and bring in businesses to Seymour.
While all of these ideas would greatly benefit Seymour, only time will tell how our airport will be like in the next 50 years.