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Hendricks Army Airfield
#HistoryTuesday - Tuesday May 12TH 2026
 
It's Military Appreciation Month here in the U.S.A. !
 
Highlands County has a deep military history going back 85 years - with Avon Park Army Airfield and Hendricks Army Airfield. Both were busy World War II bases with a combined 20,000+ U.S. Army personnel stationed here during the war.
 
Many of our USAAF airmen remained here after the war to become residents of Sebring, Avon Park, and the surrounding area and raise their families here. Some of our residents today have parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents who were stationed at either of the two bases during the war.
 
Hendricks Army Airfield existed from 1941 to 1945 as a fully operational active-duty base for heavy B-17 "Flying Fortress" bomber aircraft. It was named for First Lieutenant Laird Woodruff Hendricks, Jr. He was killed in a B-17C crash in Northamptonshire England on 28 July 1941. He was there to train Royal Air Force pilots.
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