This photograph from a WWII-era Canal Zone photo album shows the barracks/headquarters building of a reconnaissance squadron stationed in Panama. Squadrons based in the Canal Zone flew coastal and maritime patrol missions to protect the strategically vital Panama Canal from Axis submarine attack and sabotage throughout World War II. The building's tropical modernist architecture, with open galleries and louvered windows for ventilation, was typical of U.S. military construction in Panama during this period. Project: 218445