Those aging ghosts of Pearl Harbor

  • Published
  • By Ted R. Sturm
SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) --  If you are under 30, Dec. 7, 1941, is probably only another date in your history book. The day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Ho-hum.

If you are over 40, the date is one you may never forget. And like everyone else in that age group, you probably have your own story of "what I was doing when I got the news that winter Sunday 30 years ago." [Editor's note: this article published in 1971.]

While nobody remembers the event like those who were actually there, it is still almost impossible to visit the Air Force bases on Oahu today without seeing visions of what it must have been like when the bombs rained down.

It's not just the physical evidence, although some of that remains. It is more of an atmosphere, a still-vivid state of mind originally created and perpetuated by the concentrated, detailed accounts drummed into you by the press and radio during the weeks following the attack. Instantly you remember things like, "They strafed Hickam's Hale Makai, the 3,000-man consolidated barracks."

And there it is before you, today the headquarters for the Pacific Air Forces. You still see the bullet holes on the outside walls and on the metal stairways within.

You remember, "The hangar line is in flames," and there it sits, many of the original buildings now restored but still carrying above the main hangar doors the painted-over emblem of the old Army Air Corps.

"B-17s of the 18th Bombardment Wing were destroyed on the ramp." No B-17 Flying Fortresses there now. Several C-141s, a C-5, a couple of F-4s, some C-130s. No B-17s. Still, you can close your eyes and see the ghosts -- once proud birds, the elite of the force, backs now broken, the distinctive dorsal fin obscured by smoke.

The ghosts are there if you look for them, all right, though Hickam Air Force Base today bears little resemblance to the Hickam of 1941, the obvious landmarks, buildings and general layout are the same. But the original runway has been closed for years, and today's jets share the main runway of adjoining Honolulu International Airport with the constantly arriving and departing commercial jetliners.

Once in a while an F-102 of the Hawaii Air National Guard roars out of the alert hangars across the base on the ocean side and disappears into Oahu's blue skies. And almost daily, the dawn is shattered by C-141 transports departing for Southeast Asia or other parts of the world.

The four main Air Force installations in the Hawaiian Islands are on Oahu. They include Hickam, Wheeler and Dillingham AFBs, and Bellows, now only an Air Force Station. All the bases except Dillingham were active in 1941. Altogether, there are about 13,000 USAF military and civilian personnel in Hawaii. Add family members, and you kick the total of Air Force people to more than 33,000.

For years now, Hickam has been known as the crossroads of the Pacific. The base services several tenant organizations and has a maintenance capability that boasts spares for every USAF aircraft in the inventory that can make the long, overwater flight from mainland. Although there are only 85 aircraft assigned, some 13,000 transient aircraft go through the base each year.

Wheeler, on the other hand, is just a shadow of the base it was in 1941. There is no flying other than that by Wheeler-based U.S. Army helicopters and several varieties of light aircraft. Wheeler is mainly a tenant, run by an air base squadron that furnishes administrative and logistic support to the Hawaiian Air Defense Division as well as to other agencies.

Bellows today has no aircraft at all. It is mainly a communications site and a recreation area, and is used by the Marine Corps for maneuvers.

It was different in 1941. Then, the Hawaiian Air Force boasted 231 aircraft, almost three times as many as the Air Force now has in Hawaii. To be accurate, however, it must be noted that Navy, Marine and Air National Guard aircraft bring today's total -- and the defense capability -- up considerably.

There were 745 officers and 6,706 enlisted men in the HAF. Units were deployed at the three major bases. At Hickam, for example, were the 5th and 11th Bomb Groups (Heavy) and the 58th Bomb Squadron (Light), both part of the 18th Bombardment Wing. The headquarters of the 14th Pursuit Wing was at Wheeler, along with the wing's 15th Pursuit Group, 18th Air Base Group and three support squadrons. Aircraft included P-40s and P-36s, plus a few other types. The 86th Observation Squadron was at Bellows.

The enemy aircraft attacked in two waves. In the first, 50 fighters, 50 horizontal bombers, 40 torpedo bombers and 50 attack bombers droned in from the north. In the second wave, which came 45 minutes later, there were 50 horizontal bombers, 80 divebombers and 40 fighters.

Hickam and Wheeler were hardest hit. Pursuits and 28 bombers launched the first attack on Hickam, a 10-minute raid on buildings of the Hawaiian Air Depot and the hangar line. After a 15-minute lull, five or six high-level bombers hit the baseball diamond: six to nine others dropped to 150 feet and hit the water system, technical buildings, consolidated barracks and the planes parked wingtip to wingtip on the warming-up apron.

Later, more airplanes attacked other technical buildings, dispersed aircraft, barracks, the parade ground and the post exchange.

Wheeler was hit by 25 dive-bombers that spent 15 minutes making sure no aircraft would rise to challenge them. Despite that, four P-40s and two P-36s managed to get airborne 35 minutes after the initial attack. They flew 25 sorties in an hour. Other effective sorties were carried out by pilots of the 47th Pursuit Squadron a small Wheeler detachment training at Haleiwa. An hour later, enemy planes again strafed Wheeler.

Bellows got off easy. Only one fighter hit the base in the first wave, although nine more came in later for a 15-minute attack.

When the Japanese left for good, the HAF took stock of the damage. Of the 231 aircraft, 64 had been totally destroyed and no more than 79 of those left were usable. Hickam counted 121 people killed, 37 missing and 274 wounded. Wheeler lost 37 killed, 6 missing and 53 wounded. At Bellows, five died and nine were wounded.

The primary objective of Japan's attack was the destruction of the Pacific fleet. Hard-pressed by the embargo put on by the Untied States and desperately in need of oil, tin and rubber from Borneo and the Celebes, the Japanese knew they must strike south. By destroying or crippling the fleet for six months, they hoped to have time to attack in the south, solidify their positions and prepare for American retaliation.

Naturally, Hickam, Wheeler and Bellows had to be hit to neutralize the air defense that might have caused the attack to fail.

From a military standpoint, the raid was a total success. Japanese losses were insignificant in comparison to the damage done to the United States' forces. Of the 360 planes that roared in from the Japanese Navy task force, only 29 failed to return to the aircraft lying 200 miles to the north, and about 50 crashed while trying to land on the carriers.

Many things and many people have changed in 30 years. Hawaii is beautiful and peaceful again, its tropical serenity marred only by the knowledge that wars still plague our world.

This article reprinted from Airman magazine, December, 1971.