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Pearl Harbor was not the only base attacked on December 7.
Other military installations on Oahu were hit as well: Hickam,
Wheeler and Bellows airfields; Ewa Marine Corps Air Station;
Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station; and Schofield Barracks. Hundreds
of planes were destroyed on the ground and hundreds of men
were killed or wounded.
Click on the links below for more info on these places:
Hickam Air Force
Base
In 1934, the Army Air Corps saw the need for another airfield
in Hawaii and assigned the Quartermaster Corps the job of constructing
a modern airdrome from tangled brush and sugar cane fields adjacent
to Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu. The site selected consisted
of 2,200 acres of ancient coral reef, covered by a thin layer
of soil, located between Oahu's Waianae and Koolau mountain
ranges, with the Pearl Harbor channel and naval reservation
marking its western and northern boundaries, John Rodgers Airport
to the east, and Fort Kamehameha on the south. The new airfield
was dedicated on May 31, 1935 and named in honor of Lt. Col.
Horace Meek Hickam (pictured), a distinguished aviation pioneer
who was killed in an aircraft accident on Nov. 5, 1934, at Fort
Crockett in Galveston, Texas.
While construction was still in progress, the first contingent
of twelve men and four aircraft under the command of 1st Lt.
Robert Warren moved from Luke Field on Ford Island to Hickam
on Sept. 1, 1937. Hickam Field, as it was then known, was
completed and officially activated on Sept. 15, 1938. It was
the principal army airfield in Hawaii and the only one large
enough to accommodate the B-17 bomber. In connection with
defense plans for the Pacific, aircraft were brought to Hawaii
throughout 1941 to prepare for potential hostilities.
The first mass flight of bombers (21 B-17Ds) from Hamilton
Field, California, arrived at Hickam on May 14, 1941. By December
1941, the .Hawaiian Air Force had been an integrated command
for slightly more than one year and consisted of 754 officers
and 6,706 enlisted men, with 233 aircraft assigned at its
three primary bases (Hickam, Wheeler, and Bellows).
When the Japanese attacked Oahu's military installations
on Dec. 7, 1941, Hickam suffered extensive property damage,
aircraft losses, and personnel casualties totaling 139 killed
and 303 wounded. The bombing and strafing of Hickam Field
was an important objective, because the success of the Japanese
attack on the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor was dependent
on eliminating air opposition and precluding US planes from
following their aircraft back to their carriers and bombing
the task force. During the war years, the base played a major
role in pilot training and aircraft assembly work, and as
a supply center for both air arid ground troops. Hickam served
as the hub of the Pacific aerial network, supporting transient
aircraft ferrying troops and supplies to forward areas, not
only during World War II but also during the Korean conflict
and the Vietnam War.
In October 1980, the Secretary of the Interior designated
Hickam AFB as a National Historic Landmark, recognizing it
as one of the nation's most significant historic resources
associated with World War II in the Pacific. A bronze plaque
reflecting Hickam's "national significance in commemorating
the history of the United States of America" took its
place among other memorials surrounding the base flagpole.
Dominating the area is a large bronze tablet engraved with
the names of those who died as a result of the 7 December
1941 attack.
Other reminders of the attack can be seen at Hickam today,
including the tattered American flag that flew over the base
that morning. It is encased and on display in the lobby of
the Pacific Air Forces Headquarters building, where bullet-scarred
walls have been carefully preserved as a constant reminder
to never again be caught unprepared.
Article: Hickam
dedicates clinic to doctor killed during Pearl Harbor attack
USMC Article
on Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station:
Hawaii remembers the 'Day that will live in infamy'
Story by Cpl. M. Trent Lowry
MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY(Dec. 7,2000) -- The
view of Kaneohe Bay this morning, as it often looks at dawn,
was that of the surface of placid waters lightly waving under
the newly rising sun. Cottony clouds ringing the tops of the
Ko`olau Mountains could be seen in the distance as CH-53D
helicopters at MCB Hawaii turned their rotors, warming up
for a day of flying.
The day began similarly enough 59 years ago, the sun peeking
over the Pacific Ocean to the east, lighting up the line of
PBY Catalina patrol seaplanes staged outside Hangars One and
Two of Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay.
But the pleasant vista was abruptly shattered that Sunday
morning, Dec. 7, 1941, confusion reigning as the rapid retorts
of machine-gun fire mingled with the concussions of bombs
and the coal-black plumes of smoke rising from the bayside
hangars as a result of a Japanese aerial attack on the air
station.
"Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live
in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and
deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire
of Japan."
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's address to Congress on
Dec. 8, 1941, was a speech that was broadcast on radio and
captured on film. President Roosevelt's words effectively
galvanized a nation against an enemy who had the audacity
to strike at Americans on their home soil. The name associated
first by most Americans when referring to the events of December
7, 1941 is that of Pearl Harbor, which certainly suffered
the most casualties and destruction from the Japanese attacks.
But the Japanese were intent on destroying all U.S. military
assets in the Pacific.
At Kaneohe Bay, the Japanese fighters missed only three Catalinas:
the three that were on patrol over the Pacific that morning.
Japanese Mitsubishi Reisen "Zero" fighters swooped
low over the air station, strafing the helpless Catalinas
and their hangars, destroying or disabling all 33 of the aircraft
remaining aboard the air station as NAS Kaneohe Bay was the
first U.S. installation hit by the Japanese on that fateful
day.
"From my perch on the roof (of the barracks) I had a
great view of the action down by the hangers and the seaplane
ramp ... I could see the tracer bullets from the (Japanese
'Zeros') and from the ground, as the sailors were returning
fire by now. Everything down there seemed to be burning,"
said retired Gunnery Sgt. James Evans, who was a private first
class on watch when the attack came.
The Japanese bullets and bombs completely destroyed Hangar
One, while the Americans defending the station were able to
shoot down just three of the marauding aircraft. Lieutenant
Fusata Iida, commander of 3rd Air Group crashed into the side
of Puu Hawaii Loa, also known as Kansas Tower. A stone marker
remains to mark the impact spot.
When the smoked had cleared much later, 18 Sailors and one
civilian worker had been killed defending the air station.
The eleven zeros that attacked NAS Kaneohe Bay were just
part of the 184-plane first wave of Japanese attack airplanes,
which had taken off from the Akagi Carrier Group 230 miles
north of Oahu. Other planes from the Japanese navy assaulted
Wheeler Army Airfield, the Marine Corps' Ewa Mooring Mast
Field and Hickam Air Field on their way to leveling "Battleship
Row" at Pearl Harbor.
The second wave of Japanese aggressors sprayed bullets and
dropped bombs on Bellows Air Station, as well.
As the security forces for Navy interests, including service
aboard ships and in garrison, detachments of Marines were
present to defend the warships moored at Pearl Harbor and
the aircraft at NAS Kaneohe Bay and Ewa Mooring Mast Field.
Marine Aircraft Group 2 (later MAG 21) made their home at
Ewa, and flew fighter craft and scouting planes. The Japanese
attack destroyed all of Ewa's aircraft as they shot at any
vehicle that was moving, including the Red Cross ambulance
and the fire truck. Though the Japanese made three passes
over the Marine airfield, the defenders fortunately lost only
two men.
The ambitions of the Japanese empire to expand its territories
led her to strike at America. In the next four years of American
involvement in World War II, the Japanese learned of America's
resolve to emerge victorious from the war, and they also realized
that the citizens of the U.S. will not forget when they are
attacked.
A PBY Catalina burns after being bombed during the Japanese
attack on the former Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, only
minutes prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941.
Schofield Barracks
History Of The 25th Infantry Division
(Light) And The United States Army, Hawaii
In 1872, Major General John M. Schofield stepped ashore to
evaluate the military potential of Oahu's seaports. He found
two excellent harbors in the middle of the Pacific, only six
miles apart. General Schofield, who was later Commanding General
of the Army, was able to convince Congress that Hawaii was
vital to the defense of the United States.
On 12 August 1898, at the height of the Spanish-American
War, Hawaii was annexed as a U.S. territory, and four days
later 1,300 troops of the 1st New York Volunteer Infantry
Regiment and 3rd Battalion, 2nd U.S. Volunteer Engineers landed
near Diamond Head to set up the first military base. Their
mission was to defend Oahu and facilitate the use of Hawaii
as a staging base for operations against the Spanish Empire.
The first permanent Post established on Oahu was Fort Shafter
in 1907. With arrival of cavalry two years later, CPT Joseph
C. Casnter established a camp on the Leilehua plain. Beginning
as a simple cavalry camp, Schofield Barracks quickly became
a full-fledged military community. The purpose of the base
was to defend Pearl Harbor from an overland attack from the
North Shore. Between 1908 and 1911, coastal defense guns were
placed along the southern coast at Forts Ruger, DeRussy, Armstrong,
Kamehameha, and Weaver.
ACTIVATION OF THE 25TH INFANTRY DIVISION
On 1 October 1941, the Hawaiian Division was inactivated.
The 24th Infantry Division integrated the 19th and 21st Infantry
Regiments, as well as the 229th Infantry Regiment of the Hawaiian
Army National Guard. The 27th and the 35th Infantry Regiments,
the 298th Infantry Regiment of the Hawaiian Guard, plus a
field artillery brigade, formed the core of the new 25th Infantry
Division.
WORLD WAR II
PEARL HARBOR - These units operated for only ten weeks in
peace before the Japanese launched their surprise attack on
Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Immediately following the
attack on Pearl Harbor, both the 24th and the 25th were dispatched
to their defensive positions. The 24th deployed to the North
Shore of Oahu and the 25th to the beaches on the south side
of the island. Under threat of another Japanese attack, the
following year was spent in these defensive positions while
units concentrated on intensive jungle training. Throughout
the War, the Hawaiian Islands served as the major command
and control, deployment, and training center for the US Army
in the Pacific Theater.
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