by John Bond, Save Ewa Field http://www.december7.com/1941/index.html
The December 7, 1941 Battlesite will be transferred by the US Navy in early 2011 to the City of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii for a highway and industrial area. This was also the location of the Ewa Field Commemoration this past Sunday, December 5.
The 2010 Ewa Field Commemoration MAY be the last one we are allowed to have out there. The site will likely be forever badly trashed and graffitied once it is transferred to local government, where there will be ZERO protection from vandalism. That may likely be the plan in fact, have people go in and trash it so badly that so that the final battlefield evidence is totally spray-painted and buried under trash.
The US Navy has repeatedly refused to allow a National Park Service Battlefield Survey or any Federal Section 106 process, normally done for all historic properties on federally owned US taxpayer land-land owned by the people of the United States. Only at MCAS Ewa is Federal historic preservation statutes being completely ignored and overruled by the Navy.
The Hawaii State agency, HCDA, taking over the area, has vowed to run a road directly through the middle of the site shown in the photo- because the US Navy has told them the site has "no historic value" and there is no reason to protect the area from developer bulldozers. A road could easily be routed AROUND the battlesite, but HCDA wants it directly through the center, apparently for their own pleasure in seeing the historic Dec. 7 site destroyed.
Why is official US Marine Corps history, which describes some of the December 7 action at Ewa Field been totally ignored by the US Navy? What has happened to the US Marine ethic of "No One Gets Left Behind" and "Semper Fi"? Are these concepts now so empty and meaningless today that money in certain pockets trumps honor and respect? Yes, today there is only MONEY in the right hands, and even the National Park Service in Hawaii must dance to this tune.
The National Park Service marker for the Ewa Field battlesite is far away at a Navy Golf Course, an area that was not part of the 1941 Ewa airfield. WHY is it there? Because the development agenda of the US Navy and the subservient National Park Service want people to THINK they are honoring the Ewa Field battle when they really aren't. What they are honoring is a 100% development agenda and entirely wiping away the actual remaining evidence of the Dec. 7 USMC battlesite.
All the other major Dec. 7 battlesites on Oahu are Historic Districts and National Landmarks, but NOT Ewa Field. Professional recommendations for these actions at MCAS Ewa Field in the 1997 Base Re-Alignment and Closure documents were completely ignored by the US Navy. They do not want ANY historic battlefield preservation- only a tiny marker at a golf course. Pay off the right people and that is all that matters. That's "The United States of America" today...
From US Marine Corps history-
"...Turnage, however, was by no means the only Marine using his weapon to good effect. Master Sergeant Peters and Private Turner, from their improvised position in the lamed SBD, had let fly at whatever Vals came within range of their gun. The two Marines shot down what witnesses thought were at least two of the attacking planes and discouraged strafing in that area of the station. However, the Japanese soon tired of the tenacious bravery of the grizzled veteran and the young clerk, neither of whom flinched in the face of repeated strafing. Two particular enemy pilots repeatedly peppered the grounded Dauntless with 7.7-millimeter fire, ultimately scoring hits near the cockpit area and wounding both men. Turner toppled from the wing, mortally wounded..."
The Attached Photos Tell The Story- that the US Navy wants forever wiped out, just so a few people can pocket some money! Is this honoring "No One Left behind" and "Semper Fi"?
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MAP & PHOTOS: http://www.december7.com/1941/Ewa_Today/index.html