From the Annals of WWII – In 1941, Captain John A.E. Bergstrom was killed in the Japanese raid on Clark Field in the Philippines. He was the first casualty from Austin. He was honored by his home town in renaming Del Valle Army Air Base after him. DVAAB was constructed in the summer of 1942 on 3,000 acres leased from the city of Austin and activated in September. The base was renamed Bergstrom Field on November 11, 1943, and later Bergstrom Air Force Base. The base was converted to civilian use in the 1990’s and now serves as Austin’s airport. It retains the name of Austin Bergstrom International Airport in honor of his sacrifice.
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Santiago Del Valle was one of the signers of The Texas Declaration of Independence as well as a land owner. Nothing against our Swedish Immigrants,but I think it was because of a spanish sir name.
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The base was originally named Del Valle Army Air Base because it was located in Del Valle, an unincorporated area which is named after Santiago Del Valle. The base was renamed for Bergstrom after his death.
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