How BAFB played a part in WWII & continues to honor D-Day

BOSSIER CITY, La. (KSLA) - June 6, 1944, better known as D-Day is remembered for its impact on creating a turning point in World War II.

Over 5,000 ships and aircrafts launched 150,000 men onto the shores of Normandy. It’s honored as a day of courage, showing that the Allies would not back down from the Axis powers.

“It was the most decisive and significant military campaign. It was the beginning of the end of World War II in Europe,” said 8th Air Force Historian Lane Callaway.

He says BAFB served as a training base in 1939.

“A lot of folks who trained here went back to their units: pilots, navigators, bombardiers, gunners and so forth.”

He says training continued at Barksdale after D-Day, including specialty training and chemical warfare. From 1944-1945, bomber crews from the French Air Force learned at the base.

Barksdale Global Power Museum Director Elizabeth Jan Micaletti says their exhibits continue to honor and pay tribute to the memory of WWII.

She says the museum is free to all and is open from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to bring water as some of the exhibits are outdoors.

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