The Spruce Squadron

For those of you who are wondering what the  Spruce Squadron was; are you imagining flying into the wild blue yonder, well come back down to earth.  The Spruce Squadron were military personnel, but they did not get to go "over there", and the Yanks stayed right here in the United States.  When the United States entered World War I, the country found out very quickly that we did not have the means to produce airplanes as needed by the private sector. The private sector had been providing spruce timbers to the allies, prior to the US entering the war; but not to the extent that they needed. The Army stepped in and took over the production of the needed wood for the  aircraft.    About 50,000 US Army personnel over saw the the production of the lumber. The army soldiers built railroads and roads into the forest to harvest the wood. Others worked in small lumber camps.  These groups of soldiers were called squadrons, because they worked with and relied on each other just like their flying counterparts.  It may not have been as glamorous as the fly boys, but their part was vital. The squadron had over 100,000 loggers working with them.  The army personnel who were part of the Spruce Squadron, were part of the Signal Corp, the division that oversaw all aviation for the military. 

Thank You Truman Lumpkin for your service to this country.