Former Airman returns to Hickam

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo
  • Air Force Print News
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AFPN) --  Retired Chief Master Sgt. Ralph Barnett returned here for the 65th Anniversary of the attack on Oahu and to show his family where he was on that fateful Sunday morning. At the time of the attack he was a 24-year-old sergeant assigned as assistant armament chief with the 23rd Bombardment Squadron stationed on Hickam Field.

In the early morning hours of Dec. 7, 1941, 250 aircraft from the 1st Air Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy set out to cripple the American naval and air forces with a surprise attack on the island of Oahu.

Shortly after the first wave of dive-bombers made their pass at near by Pearl Harbor, the sounds of explosions woke Airmen asleep in the barracks. The Japanese attack quickly centered on Hickam Field, which was an important Japanese objective because the success of the attack on the Pacific Fleet depended on eliminating air opposition.

"It was early Sunday morning on the 7th of December of 41 when I heard a couple of explosions. I was sleeping and didn't pay any attention to it," said Chief Barnett. "An Airman came through and said 'Everybody outside!' I just thought maybe the Navy was flying around."

As he ran downstairs and faced Pearl Harbor he could see the black smoke and Japanese planes overhead. He ran the 500 feet to a hanger where he worked and handed out small arms and ammunition.

"We could see the smoke from Pearl Harbor but that was only a few seconds because a plane came right over the top of the barracks and we could see the pilot smiling and the rising sun on the plane. So we knew who was attacking us," said Chief Barnett.

"So I ran over to the hanger and the first person I saw was my commander and I gave him a pistol and some ammunition. Then all the other troops started arriving so I issued them weapons," he said.

The first targets to be hit on Hickam were in and around the hanger area. Then the attack widened to include supply buildings, the base chapel, the guardhouse, and the consolidated barracks and dining hall.

The consolidated barracks received several bomb hits to the roof killing practically everyone on the top floor. The dining hall took a direct hit from a 500-pound bomb, instantly killing 35 men.

In less then an hour Hickam suffered extensive property damage, aircraft losses and casualties totaling 189 killed and 303 wounded.

As he walks through his old barracks building which is now the Pacific Air Forces Headquarters building, Chief Barnett is not able to recall what it use to look like but recalls the aftermath of the attack and how it was extensively damaged during the attack

"I don't recognize it because it looks so different," he said. "I can't believe that I slept in this barracks where it was hit by Japanese bombs and machine gun fire," said Chief Barnett.

"It kind of gets to me a little bit to think about those days and what happened and that I survived," he said.

Sixty-five years later the PACAF headquarters building and the base are quiet. The skies are clear and the only planes that Chief Barnett sees are the U.S. military jets that are parked on Hickam's flightline.

The lessons learned from Dec. 7, 1941 still hold true for the United States. And according to Chief Barnett, should be told to everyone, "It taught us that we should be prepared at all times, have a good defense system, be on alert, and support the military," said Chief Barnett.