SAVE EWA FIELD! Image from Ewa Historian, John Bond
75th Anniversary Battle of Midway Commemoration
Sunday June 4 from 9 - 9:30 AM at Ewa Field ramp
and 9:30-10 AM tour of 1942 aircraft revetments
This Commemoration will be the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Midway which began on June 4, 1942 near Midway Island, which is part of the Hawaiian archipelago. Many Navy and Marine planes from Ewa Field were sent to fight in this famous and decisive Pacific War naval battle.
The USS Hornet had just recently completed the then secret B-25 bombing of Tokyo on April 18, 1942. Pilots, planes deployed to Ewa Field to prepare for Midway and left just days before the beginning of the Midway battle on June 4, 1942. Many planes from Ewa Field were shot down, including the now legendary Torpedo Squadron 8 of the USS Hornet. Ewa Field pilot Richard Fleming USMC was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his attack on a Japanese battle fleet cruiser. The sinking of four Japanese aircraft carriers was a nearly miraculous feat which changed the course of the Pacific War and quite possibly WW-II. However the air battles entailed a very great sacrifice by US Navy and Marine pilots in out classed planes against superior Japanese carrier aircraft and ship gunnery units.
Few today know that Ewa Field played a major role in the planning, training and formation of the US naval air forces deployed at the Battle of Midway and why today a visible legacy remains of large concrete aircraft bunkers built to protect key aircraft from Japanese air attack and coastal bombardment. They are now being evaluated for placement on the NPS National Register of Historic Places.
75th Anniversary Battle of Midway Commemoration, Sunday June 4
from 9-9:30 AM, Ewa Field ramp. And from 9:30-10 AM tour of 1942 aircraft revetments
The James Campbell HS Navy JROTC will be providing a color guard. Hickam AFB Honor Guard will provide rifle salute. We expect to have some key speakers including: James M. D’Angelo, Chairman and Founder of the International Midway Memorial Foundation (IMMF); Daniel Martinez, NPS WW-II Valor in the Pacific historian. We may also have two Midway veterans attending who will leave Sunday afternoon for Midway on a special charter flight. More may be added. Public invited, no charge. An educational event with tour of 1942 aircraft revetments which are today part of the Barbers point stables.
For more info please contact:
John Bond, POC 685-3045
Ewa Battlefield Historian
E-mail: [email protected]
Ewa Field Blog: http://ewafield.blogspot.com
The USS Hornet had just recently completed the then secret B-25 bombing of Tokyo on April 18, 1942. Pilots, planes deployed to Ewa Field to prepare for Midway and left just days before the beginning of the Midway battle on June 4, 1942. Many planes from Ewa Field were shot down, including the now legendary Torpedo Squadron 8 of the USS Hornet. Ewa Field pilot Richard Fleming USMC was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his attack on a Japanese battle fleet cruiser. The sinking of four Japanese aircraft carriers was a nearly miraculous feat which changed the course of the Pacific War and quite possibly WW-II. However the air battles entailed a very great sacrifice by US Navy and Marine pilots in out classed planes against superior Japanese carrier aircraft and ship gunnery units.
Few today know that Ewa Field played a major role in the planning, training and formation of the US naval air forces deployed at the Battle of Midway and why today a visible legacy remains of large concrete aircraft bunkers built to protect key aircraft from Japanese air attack and coastal bombardment. They are now being evaluated for placement on the NPS National Register of Historic Places.
75th Anniversary Battle of Midway Commemoration, Sunday June 4
from 9-9:30 AM, Ewa Field ramp. And from 9:30-10 AM tour of 1942 aircraft revetments
The James Campbell HS Navy JROTC will be providing a color guard. Hickam AFB Honor Guard will provide rifle salute. We expect to have some key speakers including: James M. D’Angelo, Chairman and Founder of the International Midway Memorial Foundation (IMMF); Daniel Martinez, NPS WW-II Valor in the Pacific historian. We may also have two Midway veterans attending who will leave Sunday afternoon for Midway on a special charter flight. More may be added. Public invited, no charge. An educational event with tour of 1942 aircraft revetments which are today part of the Barbers point stables.
For more info please contact:
John Bond, POC 685-3045
Ewa Battlefield Historian
E-mail: [email protected]
Ewa Field Blog: http://ewafield.blogspot.com
Ewa Field Blog by John Bond, Ewa Historian
