V HAWAIIVoluntary payment for delivery to MARINMCAS housing/$1 per four week period BAY, HAWAII, DECEMBER VOL 9 NO. 48 KANEOHE 3, 1980 TIVE Assault shatters air station between 7:45 and 7:50 his men. He had repeated it earlier - Chief Ordnanceman John Joseph Lockard and George Elliott under attack ;William Finn, Aircraft a.m. It is believed that Pearl that morning: on watch Dec. 7, of the 55th Signal over "The most -1941, stood waiting for were manning a Harbor bound aircraft arrived important thing for a the return Warning Service minutes soldier who of a patrol bomber flight he had radar station. "Battleship Row" a few is a samurai is his helped launch earlier that later, determination. If, for instance, I morning. RADAR WAS a new experi- should receive fatal damage to my ment for the military, and several AS IIDA PULLED up over the fuel tank, I would aim my plane to Just before 8 am. he, like many crater, a others here, heard the drone of such centers were in operation on top of Puu Hawaii-Loa effect the greatest destruction and, approaching aircraft. Eyes Oahu at the time. There was one on lone Marine sentry fired at the without thought of survival, would strained to see the low-flying craft operation high 'atop Ulupau departing Zeroes with his throw myself into the target." that were hidden behind Kansas Crater. On Dec. 7, 1941, Hawaii Springfield 03. Though not an Tower and the North Beach sand had 50 Army posts and 26 naval effective anti-aircraft measure, it TRUE TO HIS samurai code, dunes. reservations. On Mount Kuala, was a determined one- The sentry Lida now signaled his group to highest point of Oahu, was one of had received a minor flesh wound, disband formation, pointing first BUT IT WASN'T his familiar several radar stations which probably from a ricochet, and was to himself and then to the ground planes returning. home. Japanese were established in remote areas. firing in retaliation. to make clear his intention. Then fighter planes and dive bombers All of these required new access The Japanese attackers he plUnged earthward with guns swooped down on the unsuspecting roads which presented major continued acmes the peninsula ablating. air station, giving birth to what construction problems. with guns blazing. Fires began to During a pilot's debriefing President Franklin Roosevelt At Koala, as well as the Kaena burst from beildings hit with session later that morning aboard called the "Day of Infamy." Point and Ulupau Head, the incendiary ammunition. The the Soryu, Lt. lyoze Fujita eelated Lt. Pasant lida, a 28-year-old extreme inaccessibility of the sites planes then circled and began their that, "The last I saw of lida was fighter pilot in the Imperial required the installation of steel deadly bomb runs. when he began his crash dive, his Japanese Navy, toasted the Rising cableways to carry men and plane hurtling straight downward Photo by Cpt Dave Davis Sun Flag, climbed into the cockpit materials to the stations. For 10 minutes the 12 attackers into a flaming hangar on Kaneohe A Robert Miller sits on of his Zero and roared from the Suddenly the privates sprang swooped over the dazed air station. Air Base" WERE YOU GOOD BOY? -A bashful flight deck of carrier Soryu. forward, the dancing The defenders were unable to It was npt a hangar that lida hit. Santa's knee and tells him what he would like for Christmas. staring at and MCAS Bay's main The lieutenant, a short impulse on their scope. Lockard launch a single plane against His crippled Zero slammed into the Santa Mrs. Claus are at Kaneohe handsome man with a glowing thought that something them. side of Kansas Tower, near the exchange Tuesdays through Fridays between 3 and 5:30 p.m. at first listening to boys and girls. personality and quick, wit, was in was 'wrong with the instruments, The first targets were the big present location of the Child Care the requests of good command of the Third Air Control but, after checking it, he knew that patrol aircraft moored in the Center. group whose target for the the signal meant approaching waters of Kaneohe Bay. A lull was sustained for about 25 morning's attack was -Mokapu aircraft. Following the attack, the minutes before the second attack Peninsula, the Kaneohe Naval Air damage inflicted by the invaders commenced. During the lull, Runways Station. THE TWO BEGAN plotting the totaled 27 of 36 planes destroyed Kaneohe sprang to life. As his flight sped low over the nearing flight of airplanes. They and six others damaged; only three Among the casualties that Restrictions prohibit pedestrian travel waves, little did lida realize that began the known course at 136 Catalinas out on patrol that continued to pour in was Aviation his earlier toast, and this flight, milei out. When it closed to 132 morning escaped destruction. The Chief Ordnanceman John Finn, Illegal pedestrian travel across vehicles traveling in the would be his last. He had, in fact, miles, they called their informa- Japanese had racked a near total carried on a stretcher. the Mokapu Road runway crossing performance of their operational about one hour to live. tion center. success. Later, Finn received the Medal of at MCAS Kaneohe Bay has duties. The officer on duty, Lt Kermit Honor for his part in defending prompted the Provost Marshal's The helicopter landing pad and HIS LIFE HAD been fast-lived, Tyler, told them not to worry about A STUNNED Kaneohe began against the first attack on Office to inform personnel aboard aircraft parking areas are a flight of the however. He had survived three it, that it was of 11.17 to recover from the initial shock of Kaneohe Bay. the air station rules and restricted to line maintenance years of aerial combat in China bombers from California expected the first onslaught. By the end of Seeing the first planes rise over regulations. vehicles and vehicles required for plus the rigors imposed on a to land at Hickam shortly after 8 the attack, anti-aircraft measures Kansas Tower, Finn had jumped flight operations. popular and hard-drinking a.m. were functioning and fire into action in a Lewis machinegun ACCORDING TO Station In the event that access to the a.m., and Kaneohe squadron leader. It was 7:15 apparatus was attempting to position and began returning fire Order 5500.6 concerning traffic in runway or taxiway are required by While miles out at sea, he spotted Bay had only begun to rise from control the blazing aircraft. As yet, on the Japanese attackers. airfield operation areas, facilities department vehicles, the landmark for which he was slumber on a tropical Sunday no building had suffered larger His citation read: "For pedestrians are prohibited from clearance will be obtained from searching, the land mass of morning. hits than that of machinegun extraordinary heroism, distin- crossing runways at any point. Airfield Operations and personnti Ulupau Crater and Kansas Tower. bullets. service and devotion above Bicycling across the runway using and vehicles will be escorted by his Zero up over the. guished lida led his squadron of Zero fide nosed After some 15 minutes, the and beyond the call of duty. During Mokapu Road is permitted, radio equipped vehicles to the dunes of North Beach and sighted attackers drew attack by Japanese provided that no stops are made designated area. aircrafts down to the tops of the structure off to the north. All the first in on the temporary but one, that is. Ilda's on the Naval Air Station before reaching the other side. churning whitecaps and sped to He touched the Zero had airplanes what silhouetted on top. suffered direct hits from at Kaneohe Bay, Honolulu, Capt Vincent Norako Jr., ALL VEHICLES, except the shore of North Beach for causing his machineguns to Kaneohe angry he knew would be a surprise attack. button guns. Bullets had cut into Territory of Hawaii, on December assistant- operations officer, yellow emergency vehicles, having chatter a staccato rhythm, his fuel tanks and gasolinespurted 7, 1941, he promptly secured and Station Operations and Mainte- a requirement to proceed onto the undetected, ,i,iitiit for possibly the first oat 4/Lit, long white spray. As his manned a machinegun mounted nance Squadron, noted, "Our runways or taxiways must display Tile attack not drums of World it wisurt unhaisarea...s. time, Japanasewer alllliTarigixtie dropped from the on an instruction stand in a inejor problems are with the checkered flag with red and hut w ra i g of Il in the Pacific. few north of the air station, War sky, lida must have remembered completely exposed section of a pedestrians, jogeere and white colors provided by Airfield miles Private:: Kaneohe Naval Air Station wan a Kahuku Point, Army the advice he had so often given to parking ramp, which was under beachgoers who travel across the Operations. heavy enemy strafing fire. road which intersects the runway. Emergency vehicles granted "'this is an extremely dangerous clearance on runs to areas that "ALTHOUGH painfully area for the pilot as well as the require crossing runways will wounded many times, he pedetitrian." He continued, "We try cross only at Mokapu Road unless continued to man his gun and to be reasonable, but it has gotten radio clearance has been provided return the enemy fire vigorously to the point where we ilest can't by the Air Traffic Control tower to and with telling effect throughout tolerate this type of negligence any cross in other areas.