In 1957, Strategic Air Command bestowed a new name upon its largest New Hampshire bomber base, Portsmouth Air Force Base became Pease Air Force Base, in honor of Capt, Harl Pease Jr. Thus did Pease, a local boy, enter the pantheon of SAC heroes. Pease, born in 1917 in Plymouth, N.H., enlisted as an Air Corps cadet on Sept. 23,1939, and received his wings in June 1940. Pease went straight to the Pacific. He regularly flew in mass-formation flights of B-17s, exploits for which he was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross. Pease's outfit, 19th Bomb Group, was based at Clark Field, Philippines, when Japan struck on Dec. 8,1941, starting the War in the Pacific. What was left of the group redeployed to Australia.
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