Harley Halbert Pope
First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Service

Harley Halbert Pope was born on 26 May 1879.

Lieutenant Pope, aviator and Commander of the 276th Aero Squadron, was the Advance Air Officer of the 276th from Camp Jackson, SC, where the squadron was temporarily located after returning to Fort Bragg from a year of overseas service during World War I. 

With only a few roads and a railroad track as a guide, Lieutenant Pope left Columbia, SC, on 7 January 1919 in a Jenny to fly northward and find the proposed airfield at Fort Bragg. 

He flew the railroad tracks to Raleigh and turned south to reach Fayetteville. The Lieutenant and his passenger, Sgt. W. W. Flemming, had difficulty locating the airfield because of poor visibility. After circling Fayetteville several times, the fuel in the Jenny was exhausted and a forced landing was attempted in the Cape Fear River. The plane hit nearby trees and crashed into the river. Before the townspeople could get there, the river claimed the two men.

Honors

Officially established by the War Department in 1919, Pope Air Force Base ranks as one of the oldest installations in the Air Force. It is named in honor of First Lieutenant Harley Halbert Pope.

The existing Wing and Base Headquarters building is named Flemming Hall in honor of Sergeant W. W. Flemming. 

Death and Burial

First Lieutenant Harley Halbert Pope died on 7 January 1919. He is buried at Green Hill Cemetery in Bedford, IN.