Warbird Park, off Farrow Parkway by Market Common, keeps the memory of Myrtle Beach Air Force Base on the ground where it stood. The Air Force was part of this town from 1954 until the base closed in March 1993; the park's aircraft and memorials are how the site speaks now. Admission is free.

Warbird Park in Myrtle Beach Full Tour & NEW Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Dedication on Memorial Day!

Dean Team Adventures

The Dean Team gives the full tour of Warbird Park on Memorial Day, the day the park's new Vietnam War Memorial was dedicated. The film walks the aircraft and memorials at Market Common, takes in the dedication ceremony with the Carolina Youth Chorale singing, and explains the park's place on the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base.

Key takeaways
  • Filmed at the Vietnam War Memorial dedication on Memorial Day
  • The Carolina Youth Chorale performed at the ceremony
  • The park stands on the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base at Market Common

MYRTLE BEACH WARBIRD PARK TOUR | FREE THINGS TO DO IN MYRTLE BEACH

Carmen and Brian

Carmen and Brian's full tour of Warbird Park, off Farrow Parkway by Market Common. The film covers the displayed aircraft, the airport viewing area across from the park, and the history behind the site: the Air Force base that once operated here and the military presence that remains around the airport.

Key takeaways
  • The park sits off Farrow Parkway by Market Common
  • An airport observation area faces the park
  • Displayed aircraft carry the base's history

Myrtle Beach Warbird Park | Free Things to do in Myrtle Beach!

Carmen and Brian

Carmen and Brian return to Warbird Park for a closer look at the planes and their histories. The film walks each aircraft on display in the Market Common park, reads the markers, and connects the jets to the squadrons that flew them from Myrtle Beach Air Force Base.

Key takeaways
  • A plane-by-plane walk of the park's aircraft
  • Markers connect the jets to their Myrtle Beach squadrons
  • Market Common setting, by the airport

The park walked

The Dean Team's Memorial Day tour is the anchor: the full park on the day its new Vietnam War Memorial was dedicated, ceremony and Carolina Youth Chorale included. Two Carmen and Brian tours walk the aircraft plane by plane, reading the markers that connect each jet to the squadrons that flew it from this base, with the airport observation area across the way. A first-visit walkthrough adds the memorials, the wounded-warrior parking spot and the disc golf course next door.

The oral histories

The park's QR-code stops are films in their own right, and four are here. Buddy Styers, who ran the base's redevelopment authority from its creation in 1994, tells how the second life was managed. Colonel Joe Barton, an A-10 pilot of 18 years, tells the Warthog's story — and then stands at the park's A-10, tail 79-0097 wearing Captain Stephen Phillis's name, to tell the story of the Desert Storm mission from which Phillis did not return. Barbara Munden remembers growing up an Air Force kid here from 1975, through the A-7 to A-10 transition, in the memorial garden named for her father, General William 'Tom' Reed.

Sources: the 8 videos on this page, all with transcripts.

Welcome to Warbird Park - Presented by Buddy Styers

Warbird Park

Buddy Styers, executive director of the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base Redevelopment Authority, tells how the base's second life was managed. The Authority was established by the state legislature in 1994 after the base closed in March 1993 — the Air Force had been part of Myrtle Beach since 1954 — and charged with reusing the land for all of South Carolina, including the memorials at Warbird Park.

Key takeaways
  • The base closed in March 1993; the Air Force had been in Myrtle Beach since 1954
  • The Redevelopment Authority was created in 1994 to manage the reuse
  • Warbird Park's memorials were part of the Authority's mission

The A-10 Thunderbolt II - Present By Col. Joe Barton

Warbird Park

Retired Colonel Joe Barton, who flew A-10s for about 18 years, tells the Warthog's story at Warbird Park: designed for close air support in a Vietnam-style war, proven from the Cold War through Desert Storm, with a few hundred airframes expected to keep flying into the 2030s or 2040s.

Key takeaways
  • Barton flew A-10s for about 18 years
  • The A-10 was designed for close air support
  • Some airframes are expected to fly into the 2030s-40s

The Story of Capt. Stephen R. Phyllis - Presented by Col. Joe Barton

Warbird Park

Colonel Joe Barton stands at the park's A-10 — tail number 79-0097, wearing Captain Stephen Phillis's name — and tells Phillis's story: the Desert Storm mission from which he did not return, and the nose-art tradition that keeps names like his on the jets. The film is one of the park's QR-code oral-history stops.

Key takeaways
  • The park's A-10 wears Capt. Stephen Phillis's name
  • Phillis was lost on a Desert Storm mission
  • Part of the park's oral-history series, told by a fellow A-10 pilot

Watch: Warbird Park, guided

2 videos · summaries from the actual guides

General Robert H. Reed, Commander of the 354th - Presented by Barbara Munden, His Daughter

Warbird Park

Barbara Munden remembers growing up an Air Force kid at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, where her father served from 1975 — the A-7 era, then the transition to the A-10. The oral history recalls base family life, the rec center and a commander who cooked for his people, in the memorial garden named for General William 'Tom' Reed.

Key takeaways
  • A base family's oral history from 1975 onward
  • Covers the A-7 to A-10 transition at the base
  • Recorded at the General William 'Tom' Reed Memorial Garden

Honoring the history of the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base at Warbird Park

Mid Atlantic Travelers

Mid Atlantic Travelers finally stops at the Warbird Park sign they had driven past for years and walks the whole memorial park: the aircraft, the veterans' memorials, the wounded-warrior parking spot and the Market Common setting — with the disc golf course next door noted for good measure.

Key takeaways
  • A first-visit walkthrough of the full park
  • Memorials and aircraft in the Market Common district
  • A disc golf course adjoins the park

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