Ewa, Oahu, is slated for shopping centers and casinos!!!!

[Nathan]

Read on:
USMC Ewa Mooring Mast Field, Oahu, is slated by the HUNT BROTHERS of Dallas, Texas, to be made into housing, shopping centers, and perhaps a gambling casino...

Read more: http://usaircraft.proboards.com/index.c ... z17AyEN7r1


http://usaircraft.proboards.com/index.c ... 771&page=1

[JBoyle]

And....?

It's an island, land is scarce.
Like a lot of other semi-historic places, it's going to change....if not by DALLAS (why the caps?) developers, then by the Japanese or someone else.

[Nathan]

Dear JBoyle,

5 SBD crews and a number of Marines strafed and killed there is important in a manner that should be respected. Just saying, when is enough, enough? Materialistic stuff over historical value? The entire island of Oahu is historic!

[RyanShort1]

Dear JBoyle,

5 SBD crews and a number of Marines strafed and killed there is important in a manner that should be respected. Just saying, when is enough, enough? Materialistic stuff over historical value? The entire island of Oahu is historic!

More so because we still have it in our recent memory... Others might think it was too bad that the US invaded and illegally took over the sovereign kingdom of Hawaii, if they remember back that far. They might think it was bad that an air base got put on some historic spot of their past. Mind you, I strongly disagree with the idea of putting a casino and shopping there, but you may not know what important events took place in other places as well.

Ryan

[Xrayist]

Yes, Ryan, what you said is true, but it appears that you are from San Antonio....so does that mean you would be willing to have, oh say, the Alamo torn down and put a casino there that is owned by Mexico residents, since TX, at least by your reasoning, was illegally taken from Mexico?

[davidbray]

Yes, Ryan, what you said is true, but it appears that you are from San Antonio....so does that mean you would be willing to have, oh say, the Alamo torn down and put a casino there that is owned by Mexico residents, since TX, at least by your reasoning, was illegally taken from Mexico?

Just a quick history lesson though... the Alamo was built by the Spanish. Mexico then took it from them, who lost it to the Texans, who then joined the Confederacy, who as we all know will rise again against us Yankees.

[RyanShort1]

Yes, Ryan, what you said is true, but it appears that you are from San Antonio....so does that mean you would be willing to have, oh say, the Alamo torn down and put a casino there that is owned by Mexico residents, since TX, at least by your reasoning, was illegally taken from Mexico?

Actually, I happen to believe that Santa Anna was a dictator who broke the Mexican Constitution of 1832 and acted wrongly... I sympathize with those who ended his tyranny here!
Note that I DO NOT think that the casino and shops are a good idea, however, I'm also not convinced that we should preserve something as a military base "just because." If we did that with every famous, or important spot of WWII, a LOT of people would be unable to use the land of their heritage. There should be a good, lasting memorial, and those who develop the area should be sensitive to the history, and perhaps find a way to make it part of the experience.

Ryan

[RyanShort1]

Just a quick history lesson though... the Alamo was built by the Spanish. Mexico then took it from them, who lost it to the Texans, who then joined the Confederacy, who as we all know will rise again against us Yankees.

Must keep my mouth shut... I do NOT agree with and am not for racial slavery, but...

[Nathan]

The entire Island of Oahu saw action on December 7th. We all here talk about saving WWII hangers, Jeeps, guns, runways, warbirds, etc. Not sure what I wrote that was not under the same interest of those here on WIX. Besides, I was only passing on what was already written by David Aiken a Pearl Harbor historian since 1966.

FWIW, anything historic on the Hawaiian Islands are protected by Hawaiian law.

[RyanShort1]

The entire Island of Oahu saw action on December 7th. We all here talk about saving WWII hangers, Jeeps, guns, runways, warbirds, etc. Not sure what I wrote that was not under the same interest of those here on WIX.

FWIW, anything historic on the Hawaiian Islands are protected by Hawaiian law.

As far as the "historic" part - everything is "historic" in it's own right, so it's a matter of interpretation. I think we're all for preserving history / historical relics on WIX, but one does have to draw a line. If the US Military no longer needs Oahu as a base, it should be put to good use. It will likely need cleaning up from years of military use, so there may be hazards to the public that prevent it from being simply transformed into a museum / tour area, and likely, much as I hate to admit it, I doubt that people need for the whole place to be preserved, especially if it has changed some since the war. I think the best scenario is to document everything well, pick the top 3-10 most important buildings or spots to be preserved from a historical standpoint, and allow the rest to be developed responsibly.

Ryan

[sagindragin]

the whole of the united kingdom was bombed and strafed,
thousands upon thousands were killed, do we preserve the whole islands!

its time to put up a monument in respect of those that died and move on.

[Nathan]

Ok, no problem.

[warbird1]

Wow, tough crowd!

[CDF]

Aloha,

Approximately 250 people attended the third annual Fort Barrette and MCAS Ewa Field Commemoration events, featuring veteran speakers, military vehicle convoy, US Air Force and US Marine ceremonial teams, and US Coast Guard HH-65A Dolphin helicopter fly-by.

It was a beautiful sunny morning as veterans and local residents gathered first at Fort Barrette, Kapolei ( known today as the Kapolei Archery Range ) where four US Army coast Artillery soldiers stationed, were killed by attacking Japanese Zero fighters and Val dive bombers. Hawaii Veteran Services Director and Master or Ceremonies Mark Moses read the names of the KIA, after which the seven member Hickam US Air Force ceremonial rifle team fired M-14 rifles in salute, followed by taps from the PACAF band bugler.

The entire attending group then convoyed from Fort Barrette lead by WW-II military vehicles, including an M20 Armored Car. Following them were cars and vans loaded with veterans, military cadets and Pearl Harbor vets and their families. The MCAS Ewa commemoration site is located where the actual battle took place and the parking area is where the original hanger once stood. The marine air base area was also a featured location for the 1970 movie "Tora, Tora, Tora."

Beginning around 10:30 AM, the MCAS Ewa Field Commemoration event began with the playing of President Roosevelt's famous "Day of Infamy"
speech and then the presentation of colors by US Marines from the 3rd Radio Battalion, Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

Master of Ceremonies and Ewa Beach resident Tito Montes introduced the attending veterans and guests which included the Fleet Reserve Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the National Park Service.
The large pavilion tent and chairs were provided by the Ewa Beach Lions Club and the Hawaii Youth Challenge Academy provided parking direction.

Speakers included Ray Emory, well known Pearl Harbor survivor of the USS Honolulu, who has dedicated his life to identifying those killed which still are listed as unknowns. Also speaking was Ewa Field veteran John Hughes, who told the assembled audience what it was like out there at the Marine Air Group 21 fighter base on December 7, 1941. LCDR David Stroud, US Navy Chaplain Corps provided the morning benediction.

Other speakers included John Willoughby, a retired Navy P-3 Orion pilot and American Legion member, LCDR Edward Ahlstrand US Coast Guard Barbers Point historian who recounted the USCG December 7th actions, and Joedy Adams of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors who stated their intention to keep alive the "Lest We Forget" mission and also made a plea for the historic preservation of the MCAS Ewa attack site.

The names of four US Marines and two Ewa Village civilians killed on December 7, 1941 were read, as well as the names of eight US Navy air crewmen from the USS Enterprise who were shot down by Japanese Zeros near Ewa Field.
These Navy planes and subsequent shot down Japanese planes, all crashed in in nearby areas or offshore in and around the local Ewa Beach community.

There are no memorials or commemorations for any of these December 7 Navy deaths in Ewa West Oahu, which remain part of the largely untold Ewa air combat "Pearl Harbor' story where the most significant air combat action took place that Sunday morning.

A rifle salute team of US Marines from the 3rd Radio Battalion, Marine Corps Base Hawaii and bugler from the MARFORPAC Band provided the rifle salute and playing of taps for the 14 US Marines, Naval airmen and Ewa civilians killed on the morning of December 7, 1941. This was followed by a low flyover of a US Coast Guard HH-65A Dolphin helicopter which is based very close by at USCG Air Station Barbers Point.

Following the event the Hawaii Military Vehicle Preservation Association, Hawaii Military Vehicle Museum and the Hawaii Historic Arms Association displayed their vehicles and re-enactment weapons for the attendees. Others gathered around historian Ray Emory and Ewa Marine John Hughes to ask questions about what they saw that Sunday December 7th morning. Other Ewa Village residents were also available to recount their own eye-witness attack stories.

Fort Barrette - MCAS Ewa Event Coordinator - John Bond, 808-685-3045

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ALSO SEE Honolulu Star Advertiser Story...

An airfield gets its due during a ceremony recalling Dec. 7, 1941 By Dan Nakaso

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/2010 ... e_too.html

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REAL December 7, 1941 Ewa Village Story STILL NOT TOLD

Aloha Ewa History Friends,

I was able to ask retired Marine Ewa Field John Hughes some questions, and still hope to ask some more. He is a very nice guy and has no hatred in his heart about the Japanese attack. His account is pretty straight forward.

One of the things he mentions seeing is the low flying Torpedo planes heading towards Pearl Harbor- they flew right past Ewa Field and over Ewa Village. This account directly matches what Shoso Yasui has told me that he saw that morning. Having two different corroborations from eye-witnesses from two different vantage points is very exciting for me to hear.

John Hughes also told me that the later waves of pilots spent considerable effort shooting up the parked Marine owned private cars- around 30 or more at least- largely because they still had lots of ammunition any nothing else to shoot at.

The Ewa Village "Pearl Harbor" story is very unique and I think there remains a lot of "political correctness" that prevents the real story from being told- that Japanese Planes DID shoot up buildings at Ewa Village and the plantation area. This also happened along the original Ewa Beach Puuloa community where houses and cars were shot at. In addition, Zeros shot down five unarmed civilian planes, two of which were over Ewa.

I think it is important historically to try and document everything that happened.
There has been a big tendency to "whitewash" the Pearl Harbor story to fit a more "popular" story line. I don't feel that the Japanese pilots that shot at civilian targets were "war criminals"- I think it just PROVES that the Japanese were really human beings and not a robotic attack force. They were hyped up on natural adrenaline and some were excited to be shooting at ANYTHING.

This IS what happens during combat. PEOPLE get carried away in the excitement, and obviously for many of these Japanese pilots and crew- this was the most exciting action they had ever been involved in- attacking the US Fleet at Pearl Harbor... just think about it!

As we know too from the eye-witnesses, some pilots simply waved to people and smiled. After the war, some Zero pilots stated that they were angry that other pilots shot down unarmed civilian planes. It was well documented that when "Ma" Woods found herself in the middle of a flight of Torpedo planes (likely the same one's that flew over Ewa Village) the Japanese just waved to her and didn't attempt to shoot at her.

The later second wave Type 99 Vals probably did most of the random civilian house and car target shooting because they had finished their bombing runs over Pearl Harbor and still had lots of ammunition and some time on their hands to use it. John Hughes laughing recounted how some of the Marines and himself later took one of the shot up Ewa Field cars into Waikiki to see a movie.

I am most struck personally by how much ammunition really was fired by everyone that morning- how many near misses their were, and why there wasn't a lot MORE deaths. It is astonishing when you think about it- how many people who were lucky to come out of this attack largely unscratched considering all the bullets and lead flying around. All those 7.7mm shells laying around Ewa Village after the attack certainly indicated a LOT of bullets were fired that morning by Japanese planes at SOMETHING... but fortunately so few deaths resulted.

In the end I am still intend to try and document the Ewa Village story because it seems like no one else wants to. It's the last great chapter of the "Pearl Harbor"
story that remains largely untold. Yoshinobu Oshiro directed me to a great book called "Pearl Harbor"- not based on any Hollywood views, but actually very factual on how the Japanese carried out the technical operation- in great detail. One of the co authors is a friend of Yoshinobu's son, who went to school in the US and now works as an historian at the Japanese Self Defense Force Academy in Japan. You can also get this book from the local Hawaii State Library. I found it at the Ewa Beach library in mint condition.


The book has some flaws- but the Japanese operational side is well documented.

http://www.amazon.com/Pearl-Harbor-H-P- ... 0304358843

John Bond
Ewa History Project

[CDF]

It's very rare when you can actually meet a real live on the ground combat veteran of the December 7, 1941 attack on Oahu. A Marine who faced superior high speed Zero fighters armed only with a bolt action rifle, as the planes swooped down in repeated attack runs just twenty feet "off the deck."

USMC Pearl Harbor attack veteran John Hughes, a Marine serving at Ewa Field on December 7, 1941, returns December 5, 2010 as a guest of honor at a special Ewa Field ceremony saluting the forgotten- those that do not get included in the usual annual "Pearl Harbor" story...

Hughes, a Marine sergeant at the time, was waiting for the Sunday newspaper that morning when he looked up and saw Japanese Kate aircraft flying over the airfield headed past Ewa Field moving toward Pearl Harbor. He saw the Japanese red ball on the planes and immediately ran to the air field guard house and ordered his Marines to "break out ammo."

Shortly after the Kates passed, a wave of Imperial Japanese Zero fighters, then among the best fighter aircraft of that era, banked down and began a relentless air attack on the Marine fighter aircraft lined up on the concrete ramp. This is the very same ramp where the December 5 ceremony will be held this Sunday.

"I got off a few rounds, maybe three shots then started moving the planes,"
he said "Some planes were on fire and we moved the other ones to save as many as we could. We'd fire a few shots, go back to pushing planes and then go back to firing."

A handful of the Marines ended up near a pool under construction. This is where the now famous December 7, 1941 combat photo was taken, which shows Hughes in the center, reloading his rifle.

At the end of the two-hour conflict, 12 Marines were wounded and four had perished, fighting against state-of-the-art Zero fighters using only 1908 era rifles and pistols. The Marines had no anti-aircraft weapons to fend off the constant attacking waves of Japanese planes.

Today, Hughes, who was a Marine then serving with Marine Air Group 21, Ewa Field, choked up when he was asked what was going through his mind then.

"You think back about what happened...," said Hughes, as a tear trickled down his cheek.

But Hughes did later get in some real pay-back- he became a decorated Marine Corps pilot and retired as Major John Hughes. These special Marine aviators are called "Mustangs"

The 91-year-old Marine Corp veteran is flying in to Hawaii from Santa Ana, Calif.
for the special Ewa Field commemoration ceremony. The local Ewa community, veteran groups and fellow Marines will be there to greet and salute him.

National Park Service historian Daniel Martinez called the Ewa Field battlesite "sacred ground." Martinez visited the Ewa Field battle site last year and said "his fellow Marines died where we are now standing."

This very same location where the Ewa Field Marines died in combat is where the December 5 ceremony will take place this Sunday. Developers plan to run a major road directly through the historic battlefield and claim there is nothing there worth saving as a memorial. Not everyone feels that way, including many in the local Ewa West Oahu community and numerous Hawaii based Marines.

Interviewed after the Pacific War, Lt. Yoshio Shiga, the commander of nine Zero fighters that were part of the attacking Japanese force, recalled seeing a Marine standing on the concrete ramp, oblivious to the machine gun fire striking the concrete around him, emptying his sidearm at Shiga's Zero as it roared past just 20 feet overhead.

Shiga said the defiant Ewa Field Marine was the bravest American he had ever seen in the war. "I gave him good respect" recalled Shiga.