Note:  Click on the photos below to see a larger picture of the thumbnails on this page.

Photographic contributions (especially digitized) are welcomed.  Some of the photographs below are copies of copies of copies.  Well, you get the idea.  Their resolution is poor.

"Growing up in the sixties, I remember well the old hangars as we passed them on old Highway 80. My dad would talk about how he would work on the B-17s and the other bombers. He also talked about the Enola Gay and later on in the late 40's about the then top secret jets that were confiscated from the Germans after the war! Our fondest memories of Pyote were when we would go to Pyote Park and swim at the swimming pool built during World War II to service all the personnel at Rattlesnake Air Force Base. My dad loved the shade of the mature trees and we would barbeque hot links, steaks, and other delights. It was a great time in our lives."  Excerpt from Rodney Sparkman Jr.'s Memoirs.

"Reading some great stories and comments. I also have fond memories of Pyote. Like my brother Rodney Sparkman Jr., I too, remember the long straight highways of West Texas and the imposing presence of the old Rattle Snake Air Force base. I can remember taking a stroll around the old hangars with my dad. You could just see the past in his eyes and the memories he was reliving. All this happened a short time before his passing.  I would like to thank all the men and women that served in military and civilian position at the base, an for the sacrifice they gave for us to live in this great country."  Taken from a weblog "Streams" by Jim Sparkman of Alabama.

Rodney Sparkman - Chief aviation mechanic (right), Pyote, Texas circa 1945 - 1947 with person unknown on left.   Photo courtesy of Louise Sparkman.

URL's to Pyote, Texas Rattlesnake Air Force Base:

Rattlesnake Bomber Base History

Men who served at Rattlesnake Air Force Base

Rattlesnake Bomber Base Museum

Rodney Sparkman - (lower left) Mechanics that dad worked with at Rattlesnake Air Base in Pyote, Texas 1947.  All persons unidentified.   Photo courtesy of Louise Sparkman.

Rodney Sparkman - (second from lower right) Mechanics that dad worked with at Rattlesnake Air Base in Pyote, Texas 1947.  All persons unidentified.   Photo courtesy of Louise Sparkman.

Bottom left to right, Martha and Melvin circa 1945.  Photo courtesy of Louise Sparkman.

Rodney Sparkman with (bottom left to right, Martha, Louise, and Melvin circa 1947.

(Contribution made by Louise Sparkman, 23 Dec 2002.) "The cover picture is when he was 26 years old. He just got over the mumps. His favorite dessert was rice pudding as I cooked a lot of it for him. When he left Pyote Air Base, he already had the shop as we lived in the big house behind it. I remember when I was three or four, the bus from the base picked us up and took us for a Christmas. Martha got a doll & I got an octopus made of string. He married Lois Lucille White in 1933. She was his 2nd wife as he was married to a woman named "Erma DeGuche" (Editor’s note: Is this the correct spelling?) when he lived in Olney, Texas. This marriage was annulled, but a son was born to him."

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