The Armed Forces Service Center was the brainchild of Naval Aviation Technician Petty Officer R. “Scott” Purdum.
Scott had an appointment at Kings Point Academy when he broke his leg in a ski accident and lost his slot. He joined the Navy in the family tradition. His Uncle was a retired Naval Captain in San Diego.
Scott was an intern at Cargill in the Tech Department and had a position waiting for him when he returned from his service in the Navy. It was a natural fit to be an Air Technician.
As Scott traveled through the Seattle Tacoma International Airport in 1969, he stayed at a Travelers Assistance lounge. He was amazed at the treatment he received and promptly told his Mom about it. “We really need something like this at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport. They really took care of me.”
He never lived long enough to see his dream come true.
At 11:25 a.m. on March 16, 1970, ATN3 Scott Purdum, the data technician aboard a Lockheed EC-121M “Warning Star,” tail number 145927, on an emergency approach into Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam, due to a malfunctioning No. 4 engine. The aircraft was waved off when another plane arrived on the runway, but it was too late. The No. 3 engine quit, the aircraft banked and then crashed into a revetment before striking a hanger 300 yards east of the runway on the Air Force side of the base. The Warning Star disintegrated, leaving only the tail section intact. Twenty-three crew members, including ATN3 Ralph “Scott” Purdum, lost their lives in the accident.
Keeping the promise she made to her son, Maggie increased her efforts in making the Armed Forces Service Center a reality. “I wanted to finish the center even more then because one of his last letters said, ‘Mom, don’t give up on the center, it’s so needed,’” she said at the time. That letter came home with him.
Working with Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport’s Dorothy Schaeffer, who rose to the position of assistant director of the airport four years later, Maggie Purdum was given a space of 600 square feet in the southeast corner of the main floor in the airport to create the center. A Traveler’s Aid representative assisted her with the early organization and fundraising necessary to cover the costs of a volunteer coordinator and a small emergency fund.
On November 22, 1970, four days before Thanksgiving, the Armed Forces Service Center (formerly known as the Serviceman’s Center) at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport became a reality. An 8th-grade teacher, Jeanne Morford, volunteered for the very first shift. She later became the center’s board president, and over 50 years later, she continues to volunteer at the AFSC every Monday.
In a letter written on January 31, 1971, Maggie wrote, “I’ve been very tied up with the Serviceman’s Center. It is just a wonderful thing. We have had 3500 service people there since November 22 and they are so grateful. They can’t believe that people really care.” She passed away in 2003.
Since the center’s opening in 1970, well over a million personnel have utilized the facility. Until the Covid-19 Pandemic, the AFSC has never closed in over 49 years; despite snowstorms, strikes, airport evacuations, aircraft groundings, and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Now located inside security on the C concourse where A and B join, it is one of only eight airport service centers in the United States that is always open day and night.
“We have never, ever closed our doors in our entire history until 2020 during the epidemic,” said Debra Cain, the center’s executive director. “We had 16 Marines that were stranded here for five days when the airport closed following the September 11 attacks. We even maintained our operations during the move to our present location.”
Active duty military personnel and their dependents activated National Guard and Reserves, DoD personnel, and Dept. of Public Health (on orders). All retired military and uniformed allied military personnel worldwide are eligible to use the facility.
The Armed Forces Service Center provides food, bunks, showers, a children’s play area, a beautiful lounge, and a business center.
Whether it be a meal, a place to rest, shower and clean up, or the need to use the data center, the AFSC is here to help. We make sure they get where they need to go.
The center has a two-person part-time staff and relies heavily on volunteers. The center is governed by a board of directors. “Our volunteers are some of the most dedicated people that I’ve ever met in my life. You have people who have volunteered here for 30-50 years,” said Cain. “We have people now that work full time jobs and still work on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Some are also very involved with their fraternal organizations. Others are dedicated because of what the center has meant to someone close to them. That’s what I think people don’t realize.”
The center is funded by fraternal organizations, corporate donations, and private donations and is not affiliated with any other organization.
“We always need funds. Everything in our facility is free and we can extend our courtesies to people who are displaced for 72 hours. We are always in need of volunteers, especially from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. Just go to our website at www.mnafsc.org volunteer link and download an application,” said Cain.
Over 50 years and well over a million people later, Naval Petty Officer Purdum’s legacy is still alive.
When asked what keeps her going after eight years of deployments during wartime, Cain said, “You know you’ve had a full circle moment in life when you get to meet the individuals that actually started the facility. Mrs. Purdum came to the grand reopening and said, ‘You’re doing a great job.’ It brought me full circle because I grew up on military installations and then went and did the corporate thing. Right after 9/11, I came right back and fell right in. If you find something that you love, you will never work a day in your life. We are Minnesota’s best kept secret.”