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Tuesday,October28, 1V69 THE TIMES HERALD XtEOOXKS......... . - ‘ * i . ’ ‘ ^Closing comes as 'heartbreak’ to NewburghBy JOE SHEANEWBURGHPeople on Newburgh’s Broadway reacted with shock, disappointment, surprise and “heartbreak” to the announcement Monday that Stewart Air Force Base was do ing after 28 years of association with the city.“It's a big loss for Newburgh” Mrs. Susan Travis of Newburgh said “It’s too bad. Economy wise. Newburgh will suffer. Stewart people brought a lot of money into the area.” Mrs. Travis said.Mrs. John Riley of West Point said she was “really surprised. J thought it was a very important base here.” Mrs. Riley added that she felt “if* going to hurt a lot of civilian personnel in the area, and a Hot of merchants as well.”%Mrs. Naomi Briles. whose husband. M Sgt. Leo Briles is with the 4603d Air Force Group, which Air Force spokesman said will be deactivated, said the news came “so ‘Boom!”’“We aren't happy about it.” Mrs. Briles added. “We’ve enjoyed our tour of duty here, and I think the people are lovely.” A North Carolina native. Mrs. Briles said quietly, “It makes me feel kind of sad. I’m happy tohave had the opportunity to live here. I think Newburghis a line city. It could be one of the prettiest and most picturesque cities in the country if they would do something about it,” Mrs. Briles said.4tFrederick Schindler of New Paltz, whose parents live in Newburgh, said the closing “won’t be good as far as income goes.” He was asked about proposals for using the base as a civilian jetport: “A jetport has possibilities, but it could be detrimental in some ways. It might make Newburgh part of the traffic pattern,” Schindler said.On the positive side. Schindler added that the base’s closing “will take us off the target map” in case of nuclear war. Schindler is a chemistry teacher atWappingers Falls High School.Newburgh Ptl. Vincent Paglialunga also felt the closing was going to be “a big loss. Families of the enlisted men contributed a lot to the city,” Paglialungasaid.The policeman added that another facet of the base closing was that “in the event of a disaster where local police, sheriff’s men. and state j)olice were all consumed, we wouldn’t have the military installation • near nearby to call on.”Ted Horton, who worked as a cleaning man at the base in the early 1940’s, said, “Therefs nothing anyone can do about it. You could send a million petitions, butyou can’t buck the government. When they make up their mind, you can’t change it,” Horton said, “It’s heartbreaking news, but that’s the way it goes. We don’t want the country to go bankrupt.”A young Newburgh man, Albert Farkas, saw the closing as part of the “cutback program” and said it “won’t affect me directly.”Farkas added that he didn’t like the defense cutbacks “unless they’re for modernization. It’s regretful,” Farkas said, “I heard rumors for a couple of years, but I never thought it would happen.”“I don’t want them to close it,” was the reaction of Louis Diaz of Plattekill. “I think it brings work andprosperity to Newburgh,” Diaz said, “and it helps a lot.”%Melvin Allen of Newburgh said wryly, “It’s not unusual. They always mess up Newburgh some kind of way.” Allen added, though, “Maybe they can get somekind of industries in here now.”
Newspaper Details
The Times Herald Record
Middletown, New York, US
Tue, Oct 28, 1969
Page 8
Full Page
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NY, 16 Jun 2019
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