The U.S. Navy built the Funafuti Airport in 1943 during World War II. In November 1943, the airfield became the headquarters for a U.S. bomber unit fighting Japanese forces. By the summer of 1944, the U.S. had already begun withdrawing from the island as the fighting moved north, closer to Japan. By 1945, the U.S. Army had fully withdrawn from the island. Soon after the war, the military airfield was repurposed into a commercial airport.
In October 1982, Tuvalu welcomed Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. They were the first royals to visit the island, arriving only five years after Tuvalu became a fully independent sovereign state within the Commonwealth.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/funafuti-airport-unfenced-airstrip-park
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