Alexander Pearson, Jr. – First Lieutenant, United States Army

Building 10, was completed in 1943 as the headquarters building for the Fairfield Air Depot Control Area Command (later Fairfield Air Service Command).

Today, it houses the headquarters of the 88th Air Base Wing.

The building was memorialized on August 28, 1981 in honor of Brigadier General Joseph T. Morris, the base commander from July 1945 to March 1952 and the air base wing's first commander. A commemorative plaque is located adjacent to the main entrance. Building 87, the original Patterson Field Officers' Club and later the Post Exchange, once stood beside Building 10 where the flagpole stands today. The Officers' Club moved to its current location (Building 800) in 1934, and Building 87 remained the Post Exchange until the wooden structure was demolished in the 1950's.

Pearson Road, which runs in front of Building 10, was named for Lt Alexander Pearson, Jr., who was killed in a Curtiss R-8 plane crash on September 2, 1924 while practicing for the 1924 International Air Races which were held on the base flying field.


A request to name the Vancouver airfield Pearson Field was made to the War Department, probably through the air reserve channels and on April 6, 1925, the Secretary of War issued an order to that effect.

The field was named in honor of Lieutenant Alexander Pearson, Jr., who had been an air service instructor, a test pilot and participant and winner of a number of speed races, and who had made the first flight through the Grand Canyon on a survey for the Department of the Interior.

Pearson had attended high school in Vancouver and had graduated from the University of Oregon. His parents' home was located in Portland. In 1924 Pearson lost his life in an air crash when practicing for a race at Wilbur Wright Field in Ohio.

The dedication ceremonies and accompanying festivities, organized by Lieutenant Kelly, were held on September 16, 1925. The dedication and air circus drew “a monster crowd” to Vancouver Barracks; most businesses in the town shut down early to to allow their employees to attend. The air circus brought over sixty fliers from around the country to Vancouver, who flew in mob formation over Portland and Vancouver prior to the dedication ceremonies, and after participated in a number of speed races and flying stunts.


Lieutenant Pearson was one of the crew members who earned the Mackay Trophy in 1919 for the first flight between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

PEARSON, ALEXANDER JR
1ST LT AIR SVC
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: Unknown
DATE OF DEATH: 09/02/1924
DATE OF INTERMENT: Unknown
BURIED AT: SECTION D  SITE 2795
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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