Lt Reese was assigned to the 94th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, the WWII descendant of Eddie Rickenbacker's WWI squadron. Lt Reese's body was repatriated to Texas after the war, and he is buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetary.The installation was called Lubbock Air Force Base until November 5, 1949, when it was renamed Reese Air Force Base in honor of 1st Lt. Augustus F. Reese, Jr., a native of nearby Shallowater, who was killed in action during World War II.
From Findagrave.com:
Lieutenant Reese, assigned to the 1st Fighter Group, was killed on 14 May 1943 near Cagliari , Sardinia, when his Lockheed P-38 Lightning struck the ground after a strafing run on a train.
The following article appeared in the 20 March 1949 issue of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal newspaper.
"Reburial Rites Slated
For Lt. A. F. Reese, Jr.
Reburial services for 1st Lt. A. F. Reese, jr., of Shallowater, who was killed while flying a P-38 over Cagliari, Sardinia, May 14, 1943, have been set for 11 a.m. March 28 at Fort Sam Houston National cemetery in San Antonio, his parents have been informed.
Rev. J. H. Bryant, pastor of the First Methodist church at Lorenzo, is to officiate. He was formerly pastor at Shallowater.
Lt. Reese was a member of the Hat and Ring squadron, the group that Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker flew with in World War I. Rickenbacker had presented the squadron with squadron rings only a short time before Lt. Reese went down.
Lt. Reese was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with four Oak Leaf clusters and the Purple Heart medals. A graduate of Shallowater High school and Texas Tech, Lt. Reese was employed by the Texas Highway department before he entered service."
Reese Air Force Base is named in honor of 1st Lt Augustus F. Reese, Jr., of Shallowater, Texas, who lived about ten miles north of the base. He was killed in action at Cagliari, Sardinia, May 14, 1943, while flying a P-38 on a voluntary mission to destroy a railroad supply train. Lieutenant Reese was honored when his name was selected for the base at the suggestion of a committee of Lubbock residents.
The main aircraft used at Reese during this period was the TB-25 Mitchell bomber, which was used to train student officers & aviation cadets.
The AT-6 Texan was also used starting in 1949 to augment multi-engine pilot training. The last AT-6 training mission took place at Lubbock on May 19, 1953. The TB-25 was used at Reese until the base was converted to single-engine jet training in 1959. The last TB-25 to fly at Reese was placed on static display at the main entrance to the base.
The T-33, a single-engine jet, was the only training aircraft at Reese from January 1959 until the T-37 arrived in March 1961. Undergraduate Pilot Training Class 63-D arrived in November, 1961.
