Saturday, December 20, 2014

Historic Event: US Navy Returns To MCAS Ewa - NAS Barbers Point For December 7 Commemoration

Historic Event: US Navy Returns To MCAS Ewa - NAS Barbers Point For Annual Save Ewa Field December 7 Commemoration


by John Bond   Ewa Field Historian


US Navy Mooring Mast Field  1925-1941
MCAS Ewa Field  1941-1952
Annex of Naval Air Station Barbers Point 1952-1999

Great News!

Ewa Field Battlefield Determination of Eligibility (DOE)

 by the National Park Service in Washington, DC



LCDR Don Rogers, Chaplain from Marine Corps Base Hawaii


50 Cal. bullet shell casing fired on December 7, 1941


Pearl Harbor Historian Emeritus Ray Emory was on the USS Honolulu on Dec. 7, 1941 


U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point provided a ceremonial event fly-over with MH-65


Pacific Air Force Honor Guard provided three volley rifle salute


Pacific Fleet Band plays the National Anthem


US Navy flag and American flag are presented at the start of the Ewa Field Commemoration



The Ewa Field Commemoration was also supported by various local cadet organizations


Taps is played for the Marines, civilians and Naval airmen killed at or near Ewa Field on Dec. 7


Ewa Field attendees and commemoration supporters


Ewa Field Commemoration honoree John Hughes in center of photo 


Some of the many Ewa Field ramp bullet strafing marks still very visible today


The Pacific Fleet Band provided commemoration theme music before and after the Ewa event


US Navy Color Guard posts colors at the start of the Ewa Commemoration event


Mo Radke, USN Ret. provided Master of Ceremonies support at the historic event


Local Civil Air Patrol, Naval Sea Cadets and Kapolei Marine Corps JROTC all participated


WW-II Valor in the Pacific National Monument historian Daniel Martinez


This was the first US Navy Pacific Fleet band performance at this historic site in many decades


Historian and Navy veteran Ray Emory wowed the crowd with astonishing Dec. 7 details


Ewa Field veteran John Hughes, USMC Ret. describes the Imperial Japanese Navy air attack


US Navy veteran and 7 year Vietnam POW Jerry Coffee remembers living on the base

Somewhat ironically, Jerry Coffee was standing less than 200 yards from Building 972 which was the headquarters of the Joint Casualty Resolution Center POW-MIA mission office in the 1980's. 

NAS Barbers Point holds a special place in Cold War - Vietnam Era history with the JCRC POW-MIA mission office located at then Navy Patrol Wing Two headquarters Facility 972.

The Joint Casualty Resolution Center was a unique organization in the annals of American military history and in 1976 was moved to Hawaii after Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, fell to North Vietnamese troops.

Vietnam War POW-MIA Joint Casualty Resolution Center Located At
NAS Barbers Point Patrol Wing Two Headquarters

http://barbers-point-cold-war.blogspot.com/2014/01/POW-MIA-Barbers-Point.html

89 Year Old Ewa Aviation Site, Battlefield and Top Secret Cold War Mission Control