"On Broken Wings" Chanute Air Force Base 

This makes me so sad. Some of the happiest times of my life were spent at this base back in 1979-1980 training to be a weather observer, (then back in 1984 for weather forecasting school). I celebrated my 19th birthday at Chanute. I loved the buildings especially the one prominently shown in the video, the long hallways with windows made for great airflow (unlike the enclosed, buildings we have to work in these days). It was pristine and clean back then, we kept it that way. So sad to see it in ruins now, what a waste.

I became at Chanutte an Aircraft Electrician. Those classrooms and hallways brought memories to me!

Hauntingly beautifully and visually shocking. I was stationed @ Chanute in 1984 and re-visited around 2000. Those images of White Hall are quite disturbing. How could such decay occur in only two decades? Its as if it had been abandoned a century ago. Kudos to the filmmaker. Your style was simplistic, raw, and powerful. The audio tracks you incorporated into the piece made the visuals even more poignant.

I attended the Aerographer's Mate "A" School conducted at Chanute (in White Hall) in early 1982. The building was very special. Seeing it in decay now is heartbreaking. Thank you for posting the video.

This was my last base till 1991 when I retired,,, I recognize a couple of murals I painted,,,still there !!!!

My dad worked in White Hall for 6 years and we still live in Rantoul now. It breaks the citizens of Rantouls hearts and not only this building but the entire base. The entire base looks like this and is very sad knowing the history and the things that could have been done to save this place.

I was there in 1983. Trained to be a Jet Engine Mechanic. Retired after 21 years in the ANG as MSGT. It made me cry to watch this. Good people worked there. And good people in town. What a waste.

Thank you for the info about the planes. I trained to be a jet engine mechanic there and, after my four years were over, I was able to work for both Northrop and Lockheed in that field. Brings back some mostly good memories. I had relatives in Chicago and was able to visit on a few occasions. Thanks again. .

Gives me the goosebumps. How you make such things so beautiful is beyond me.

Great work on this video. I was at Chanute for my tech school from late July 1971 to November of same year for Airframe Repair. We were housed in these real old wooden barracks that I'm sure were built during WW 2. Great times.

My father trained there in 1941. I was there in 1985 for Aircraft Electrical. It was so full of life once. Very sad to see it decaying away now. So much history is there.

Was just there today. They're tearing down all the airplanes, even the extremely rare ones. Even the Minuteman missile that's in front of the facility. Really does make me sad. Wish there's a way I can save all of it

Trained for fuels there, end of May through beginning of July 1992. Sad to see what has become of a place that so many souls were trained to protect this country.

What memories.....I was there in 1971 and graduated from Jet Engine mechanic training and just connected with a fellow graduate who just shared a video of him landing his own aircraft there . I still remember the columns of smoke off in the distance from the fire fighting training. At that time the many shifts of the largest cafeteria in the world existed there. I was one of the last airmen to do KP there before the local population took over . Saw my first Thunderbirds air show ....everyone I knew is either dead of in their sixties . I wonder what ever happened to the Pizza - Pop man who came around the barracks shown in this video and sold those God awful pizzas for one and soda. I have other memories , you can't duplicate the camaraderie we had ....I would meet fellow graduates later in Travis,Vietnam and Thailand .......

We arrived at Chanute the same day (29 Dec 88) it was placed on the base closure list. About 40 of us or so left Lackland as happy as ever and it felt like we arrived late to a funeral. Everyone was very depressed about the closure list. The base was active for another four years. I had several friends in the 3344th STUS who did tech school in White Hall. I was in Grissom as a Minuteman maintenance tech trainee. It is sad to see what happened to the base. I visited there in 1998 and again in 2002. Not all of the base was left to rot in decay but the areas we lived in were not used much. I think the state of Illinois used one of the dorms as a boot camp place for troubled kids from Chicago. I did enjoy the video, sad as it is.

Wow! Great video, Walter! I leaned how to fix aircraft hydraulic systems in White Hall back in 1989/90. Thanks for posting!

Sad to see and shocking how quickly things fall apart and decay. I was at Chanute in the spring of 1991 for weather observing school.

I spent from October .1965 through September 1966 at Chanute, for Automatic Flight Control Systems and Electronic Countermeasures training, F-101, F-102/106, F-4, and F-105. Every day we walked by a B-36, a B-58, a B-52 and various fighters on static display. The experience was quite enjoyable and I'm sorry to see it go. Spent the next several years in Thailand working on F-105 Thunderchiefs, 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, Operation Rolling Thunder.

WOW, just WOW ... Sad & breathtaking, so many emotions in this video.... Thank you for sharing this ....

Great work Walter! I was at WH from July-Dec '79 for Automatic Flight Controls (AFCS/auto pilot). If I recall, we were on the 3rd floor, inside hallway where our classes met at the corner with the weather forecasters/observers. I was there when the embassy in Tehran was taken over - we had Iranian students 2 classes down from us in AFCS, we never saw them again as they were hushed off of Chanute and out of the country(?). That area between the buildings (square area) was the interior parking lot for the instructors. Ironically, I left here for my first assignment with the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing at George AFB California flying the F-4G Wild Weasel and like Chanute, it too was closed in '93. Sad.

It's been many, many years since I walked those halls while going to my basic electronics and Avionics Instrument systems classes. It's such a shame that the government allowed this to happen. I watched over the years on Google Maps as the building was deserted and finally removed. My past, in many cases like this, has been erased.

This is one of the best videos I’ve ever seen. I spent 9 months there in 1985 learning how to fix fire trucks. This video brought me to tears 😭. Excellent job!!

i have lived here 13 yrs and i have been in some of the buildings. they make me want to cry :'(

Thank you for a very nice video of a place in my past. I spent 36 weeks at Chanute, in 71-72, learning to be a flight simulator tech. We marched about a mile from our barracks to White Hall every school day, past the B-36, B-52, and other statics along the way. I immediately recognized the old school building and the hallways with classroom after classroom. So sad to see it look like it did before it was demolished. But that's the way it goes when the funds aren't there to maintain it.

I was at Chanute from August '59 til January '60 and trained as an Aircraft Electrician. This has saddened me to see all the building going to waste. I have great memories of the base and the men that trained me and trained with me. Proud to be Air Force but not happy at what I saw.

This is a wonderful video; I love how you capture the lighting and the history footage; your the best so far at this urban exploration that I've seen.

So sad to see a building with such great history go to waste like this , you would think they would want to preserve it for future history ....

AGE School 1986, some of the best times of my life. Hurts to see it like this .

I will go to your blog to read more....we always had airmen at our Thanksgiving table. (Champaign, IL) This is really sad.

Wow! The memories come flooding back. I was at Chanute from 1/76 through 8/76 for Analog Flight Simulator School. I remember those huge hallways.

My home from October 1992-February 1993. I was in the last 411x0 class before they shut it down and moved to Vandenberg

Sad to see this. I was stationed there for my aircraft maintenance training in 1968. So much activity and purpose back then.

Our school, our beautiful school.

I attended Autopilot school there from Feb 82 thru July 82. Can't believe this has happened.

Proud and Lucky To have been called Airman 1980-84.

Me: October 1981 - April 1982, autopilot school. My dad: 1957 electricians school. I was the senior red rope for my squadron for about half my time so everyone lined up in the hallway with the windows while I went outside to see if we were going back in full formation or sidewalk formation due to too much snow (usually the latter). Wonderful memories.

The first night I was there my roommate BoB Anderson who was there for SRAM and going to Guam had a girl climb through the window...he left and left her with me it was great experience for my A school...I was an FB-111 CC at Pease AFB in 88’

MANY OF SAC'S FINEST PEOPLE PASSED THRU THESE HALLS.

I was there in 1974, B-52 training. Went to Mather AFB and became a Crew Chief.

An amazing video! A great tribute! thanks for posting!

June 1 1986 , few in on nothing( lowest cost) air plane, took a "Pakie taxi" to base 3 tallest Missel ( Mininet Man ) at the front gate. The base was the town, 24 hrs nonstop. The one small building had 200-300 Pay phones was around clock 7 days a week.... White hall was the place you actually marched in formation at 5:00 am .. 1.5 miles there. 1.5 miles back doom eat lunch marched 1.5 miles back to white hall. then 1,5 miles at 6 pm . 6 miles a day. Then 7:00 pm had form up PT in court yard another hour physical work out. Then assigned dorm duties cleaning ect. then Got to study all night next days test..... When Friday came you were good ready for a week end......those dorm parties....all week end....head into Blooming normal... go part college women!! Reagon was president....I was working on NUKEs ..life was GREAT!. Years later came back...all pay phones gone. white hall was owned by birds...Now I believe it gone... Work on nukes ( the trainers are still there) ....it was a place remember.... I was in England when wall came down1989 ...we won!!!

When I drove by Chanute Air Base I felt pround knowing my great grandpa was there during world war 2

1984 Aircraft Environmental Systems. Thanks for the video.

I spent two months there from Nov 91 to Jan 92. I had my corrosion control training at Sheppard AFB, TX then to Chanute for sheet metal training. After that, I got stationed at Castle AFB, CA. So for me, it was two bases in a row which I was sent to that later got closed. Both were due to close when I was sent there.

Salute to those who served at Chanute! I feel your pain. Hate to see the old buildings that were so full of life at one time, age and decay. Wasn’t in the Air Force, but my old base is now mostly gone. I have similar memories and when I see these videos, it’s bittersweet. The 70’s and 80’s was such a great time to be alive! Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Brilliant edit Walter. Well done.

Found memories. Sad to see it gone...

As an Air Force veteran, a lot of the building look like many I served at. Years have passed and the buildings and halls are now silent......so many Airmen passed thru these halls. They kept America Free! History is a wonderful thing but also a sad thing.

Excellent editing and filming. Sad to see it like this.

Seeing all the murals, made me suddenly realize why every class was to paint a mural on each team floor. I attended Lincoln's Challenge Academy in 2012, which is on Chanute base. We used to be housed in one of the barracks. Now, they've torn everything down. Including Grissom Hall where the museum was. (Also where we marched to attend school.) They've replaced it with a modern facility for the academy's use. It was heartbreaking.

Great video and touching tribute!

Sad to see. My brother (Ronald L. Brown) was there in '66 before going to Carswell, where he died accidentally. I remember being there as a 12 year old, driving from Galesburg to see him. I can't remember the building name we were in but I think it was a dining hall or commissary of some kind. Bob Dylan ("Rainy Day Women") in the background. I wonder if that building is still standing.

Rantoul City hired a demolition crew and demolition has already begun with the removal of asbestos first before tearing it down due to the concern of the nearby residents. Sad to see it went to waste but good to know it doesnt have to suffer anymore.

My tech school for E&E was at Sheppard AFB but I almost got teary eyed watching this. Thank you for sharing this.

AGE Instructor, 1980-1984. Best memories of my life. So sad to see all the videos on RU-vid of what Chanute has become. I wish I'd never have seen them now.

Went to Weather Observer school there in 1966, and Weather Forecaster School in 1970

well done , have subscribed, look forward to watching more of your work,thanks

I remember the brutal winters at Chanute. I was an Avionics System Technician Instructor there from 1978 to 1981. Very fond memories.

Went through fire fighter training the November 1991 to January 1992 then on to my first base in Germany. Retired from the Air Force in November 2011 . seams like only yesterday. Sad to see it like this.

We are all just passing through and time waits for no one.

EP and Avionics there, February til August '84. Some fond memories, some not so. The first 2 weeks were the closest I came to going AWOL! I'm from a mountainous area and that place is FLAT! : ) But I made some good friends over the six months - J Pico, M Menard, R Fouts, C Schmidt, J Gillette, K Cirilli, more. Went camping with some at I think it was called Lake of the Woods? Ran into some of our instructors there. Those were good memories. The summer of 2017 I was driving across the country with my wife and kids and got to go to Chanute. The first building I lived in, 341 (imagine that!), was still there. The building I moved to a few weeks later and spent most of my time at was gone - something else was being built there. I tried to find the school building (White Hall) and drove around it's area and walked around it's area a couple of times before I realized that big field is where it was. Thanks for posting the video - bittersweet.

I attended technical training there in '70. Jet engine mechanic school.

So sad this was my base back in 1968, so sad!!!!

While in the Air Force I attended school here in 1969 to become a Hydraulic Technician. See this breaks my heart.

Thanks for posting. Those of us who trained and worked there still see it in our minds as it was, full of excited students learning skills which still serve many of us long after retirement. My special thanks to the instructors. Ya did good.

I trained in White Hall. I have letter of appreciation from the commander for "shoveling the snow around White Hall in an outstanding manner".

I was there in 1966 in AGE school. I lived in the old WW2 barracks. Time has not been good to that old base. It sure looks different now. I'm 76 and I thought I looked old!

My Dad was stationed there during the Korean war. He took me there when I was a kid in the late seventys. The base was still opened and he was proud to show me around telling me of the great times he had. We drove thru many years later but didn't see White hall in this condition. What a disgrace, glad he didn't see it this way.

It is hard to see the bases where we served with pride..fall into decay

I was stationed here for tech school from Jan 1985-August 1985. Even then, my class was the last class for AFSC314X6. Had a great time there. Terrible to see what it has become. Very sad.

Memories of the Weather Observer training I attended there in 1959 & 1961

Love the video! Great job!

I was trained there. I've walked many of those halls and spent many hours learning to work on the Minuteman III missile.

Fantastic job!!! Thank you

Wow. Was there for 6 months in 87. AGE mechanic

Very sad indeed!!! I went through tech school in '89 Parachute/Surival Equipment. After hearing Chanute had closed in 93, I wanted to go back up and see but never did, whish I had! Cant believe that big old building is gone! But the memories will remain.

Sad. I was a K9 handler there. I was assigned to the 3345th Security Police Squadron from March 1981 to March 1988. I was extremely proud to have been assigned there and work amongst some of the finest people I’ve know.

White Hall was named after Edward White, Astronaut to die on Apollo 1.

As of now,May 2016,White Hall is little more than rubble. The building is completely tore down.

Stopped there on a Nuclear Road Trip a few years back hoping to see the museum. Unfortunately, it had closed several weeks before. Watched as they were tearing down classrooms. Very sad. I had wanted Chanute for tech school in 1971 because it was close to home, but I did electronics at Keesler.

OMG, so incredibly sad for me. I walked White Hall. Loved Chanute. Just unreal. 1986, mar-november

Thanks Eric! I really appreciate it!

I was class 30 of 2008 I was 18 when I went to Lincoln challenge and it breaks my heart to see them tearing down what was the best year of my life

I was in Chanute 1972 Security Police Squadron. Many memories

i use to live in Rantoul when the base was going strong,very sad to see her like this. brings back alot of memorys.

I went to school in White Hall. I learned electronics there. I retired from the USAF. Rantoul was beautiful then, especially the fall. I was young...

Graduated from Chanute tech school in 1988, sad to see it in such decay.

I too was in school at Chanute Refueling school 72-73 i miss this place

Enjoyed that a lot! Thank you.

Was there in 86 being trained to repair weather equipment. White Hall was the first step to that training.

My late father was stationed there in the late 1940s, early 50s before he was stationed in Buffalo NY where I was born in 1956.

Sep 1981-Mar 1982 spent at Chanute for 341X6 Technical Training (Digital Navigation/Tactics Training Devices Specialist). THey jammed a whole bunch of electronics theory into my 18 year old brain. Also I remember an instructor with an interesting name (SSGT Dick Raper).

This is sickening..They need to save this place..What good did it do to make it all a museum if they're just gonna let most rot away. Are these buildings open still or are they locked up?

This was my tech base in 87. AGE.

AL MIGNONE I WENT THROUGH CHANUTE TWICE AS AN AIR WEATHER SERVICE TECHNICIAN, 3 LEVEL IN 67-68 AND 7 LEVEL IN 72-73 MY WIFE OF 42 YEARS WAS FROM PAXTON, ILL. JUST NORTH OF RANTOUL.

I was stationed at Cganute afb in 1984 1985. i was in the 3372 student sqd,

I left Chanute in 1961. I was an instructor on the then IM-99 BOMARC Ground to Air Missile. That was before the bldgs had names like White Hall. We called it Buckingham Palace. I went to instructor there. it was all class rooms. There were many tech schools there then. Wooden WW2 barracks. I lived in what was called the 800 Area on the South side of the runway, there was a B-36 on one corner and a B-29 on the other. There lots of students from South Viet Nam, Turkey, Pakistan and other countries there. There were saying in the Air Force at that time"Don't shoot'em, Chanute\em" or "Russia has Siberia, we have Chanute". I enjoyed my stay there from 58 to 61. It is very sad to see it now.

What did they do with all the airplanes? Each squadron had an airplane on display around the base and ours was the B36 Peacemaker.

I was there in 91 Life Support/Para, sad to see this happened to this great building

Well done, Excellent!!!