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The "ugliest" base in the nation, as one officer called it, closed shortly after World War II ended. It was beloved by many but no longer needed in peacetime. However, the story of Buckingham Army Air Field doesn't end there. Planes still land and take-off at a modern-day airport at the site, roads once traveled by military jeeps are now residential streets, and to this day, spent bullets, dog tags, old coins, and other mementos of that long-ago era are still found in the area. Even more importantly, the base spurred the growth of Southwest Florida--hundreds upon hundreds of veterans from Buckingham returned here to settle down. Some came soon after the war; others retired here later in life--Introduction."