Fairchild celebrates 75 years

See a photo gallery from the event here.

Fairchild Air Force Base turned 75 last Wednesday - and several hundred of its closest friends stopped by to celebrate.

Fairchild began operations in early 1942, the culmination of community efforts that began in 1935 to get an Army Air Corps facility located in the area. Several years later, the Army also viewed Spokane favorably in its efforts to locate a base closer to the Pacific Ocean and interior flying routes to Alaska, but protected from attack by the natural barriers of the Cascade Mountains.

In late 1941 after receiving Army authorization, Spo...