Ewa Battlefield Nomination Approved November 13, 2015
Hawaii State Review Board Voted For Nomination To State And National Register
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Approximately every three minutes a memory of World War II –
its sights and sounds, its terrors and triumphs – disappears. Yielding to the
unalterable process of aging, the men and women who fought and won the great
conflict are now mostly in their 90s. They are dying quickly – at the rate of
approximately 492 a day, according to US Veterans Administration figures.
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"This place is sacred ground to the United States Marines that died
there, to the Japanese aviators that perished and the civilian residents
of Ewa plantation."
"Remembering our solemn commitment to their memory is the promise
that is fulfilled at battlegrounds that are preserved and enshrined by
our nation."
Daniel A. Martinez, Chief Historian
WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument
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Nearly everyone today knows the
story of "Pearl Harbor" and what happened. But that story largely neglects
what happened in West Oahu on the Ewa Plain. Not just at Ewa Field and Ewa
Plantation Village, where 40 planes were destroyed- four Marines and two
civilians killed, and 65 reported wounded at local hospitals. Nearby Fort
Barrette was also attacked by Japanese planes, killing one soldier and wounding
others.
In addition there was fierce Ewa Plain air combat that saw
five Japanese planes shot down and the still largely unrecognized story of 8
Navy SBD's from the USS Enterprise that were also shot down, killing 11
officers and crewmen, as well as the two private planes shot down by Japanese
Zero's carrying three West Oahu Army soldiers.
The Ewa West Oahu Battlefield
(approximate) total is:
11 Navy pilots and crewmen killed
(SBD's and Wildcats)
4 Marines killed (Ground) and many
combat wounded
4 Army soldiers killed (3 Air, 1
Ground by strafing)
2 Civilians killed (Ground) and many
dozens wounded...
22 U.S combat deaths.
Including the Japanese air crews-
around 10
Overall total: 32 killed in Ewa-West
Oahu on December 7, 1941.
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Kalaeloa Renewable Energy Park Programmatic Agreement
30 July 2012
[Amended and Restated] Page 4 of 31
If
determined eligible, the Navy will support nomination (by others) of the Ewa
Field Battlefield to the National Register of Historic Places. Support will
include providing technical assistance, review of draft nominations and
supporting documents, research/documentation assistance, and access to all
archival materials. The
Navy Region Hawaii Historic Preservation Officer will forward the nomination to
the Navy’s Federal Preservation Officer for review and action, pursuant to
applicable sections of 36 CFR 60.
§ 60.9 Nominations by
Federal agencies.
(d) After receiving the comments of the State Historic
Preservation Officer, and chief elected local official, or if there has been no
response within 45 days, the Federal Preservation Officer may approve the nomination
and forward it to the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places,
National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, Washington,
D.C. 20240.
Ewa
Plain Battlefield nomination DOE already approved by the Navy and NPS in 2015
The Ewa Plain Battlefield nomination
was an extensively researched and vetted final product of a $54,000 Federal NPS
American Battlefield Protection Program grant awarded in 2012 to 501-c-3 Ewa
Plain Programs which in turn contracted GAI Consultants, a major national cultural
and environmental resource survey contractor with KOKOA battlefield analysis
and documentation experience. The contract involved on site surface and
sub-surface Ground Penetrating Radar survey, extensive historic records archive
research, and delivering a complete NR Nomination.
The Navy as land owner reviewed the NPS
ABPP funded GAI Consultants nomination product and signed a Determination of
Eligibility (DOE) cover letter over the NPS-GAI nomination in November 2014 and
sent it to the NPS Keeper of the Register. The Navy DOE submission was
carefully reviewed by the NPS Keeper office in Washington, D.C., signed and accepted
in February 2015.
The Navy agreed in a 2012
Programmatic Agreement to support the nomination of the Ewa Plain Battlefield
to the National Historic Register. The Navy as land owner under Federal 36
CFR's can now send in a cover letter to the NPS Keeper accepting the NPS-GAI NR
nomination, as per the Programmatic Agreement.
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