Hawaii-2018-HCR176-Introduced

WHEREAS, as international tensions intensified and military conflicts broke out in Europe and Asia prior to America's entry into World War II, Japan destroyed the United States Pacific Fleet based in Pearl Harbor and all Army, Navy, and Marine air forces on Oahu to ensure that the United States could not hinder Japan's plans for conquest in Asia and the Pacific; and

WHEREAS, in order to attain this objective, Japan sent a powerful naval force of six aircraft carriers and supporting ships across the Pacific Ocean to attack American forces based on the island of Oahu; and

WHEREAS, using the Ewa plain and Ewa shoreline as the main avenue for the first wave of attack, fighters and bombers from the aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu arrived over the Ewa Mooring Mast Field at 7:53 a.m. on the morning of December 7, 1941, and destroyed many of the forty-nine aircrafts there while on their way to bomb Pearl Harbor; and

WHEREAS, the bravery of the United States Marines at Ewa showed itself in full force that morning, with men fighting gallantly in the face of a determined enemy who carried out their mission of neutralizing any American aircraft that could intercept and counterattack the imperial Japanese naval air forces; and

WHEREAS, the Ewa Mooring Mast field constitutes one of the very first points of the attack against the United States, which precipitated our nation's entry into World War II; and

WHEREAS, it is far less known that in early 1942, Ewa field became the phoenix rising from the ashes to become a major U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine airfield responding to the defense of the Hawaiian islands at a very crucial period when the aggressive Japanese Empire was at the height of its naval power; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii State Legislature unanimously passed House Concurrent Resolution No. 49, Regular Session of 2009, advocating the designation and development of Ewa field as a national monument, museum, and restored park, which would preserve this critical American historic site, allowing stories to be told of the associated military conflicts, American sacrifices, and the heroism and determination that became the foundation for victory in the Pacific arena and eventually in World War II itself; and

WHEREAS, a national park service battlefield protection grant in 2015 documented the December 7, 1941, airfield site that was subsequently nominated to the Hawaii State Historic Register and National Register of Historic Places in May 2016, as the Ewa Plain Battlefield; and

WHEREAS, new research done with a 2016 national park service battlefield protection grant documenting the Ewa field revetments has found that the major American response to the attack of December 7, 1941, was mounted by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines in June 1942, at the Battle of Midway from the then nascent Ewa field as funds, manpower, and materiel were redirected from the just beginning construction of the nearby Naval Air Station Barbers Point meant to rapidly expand Ewa field into a major Navy aircraft carrier support facility to include construction of approximately one hundred seventy-five air attack resistant aircraft revetments in preparation for a future major naval battle; and

WHEREAS, this major expansion of Ewa field runways, taxiways, and base infrastructure in early 1942 also resulted in the construction of seventy-five unique concrete half dome "clamshell" aircraft revetments as the Navy commissioned Naval Air Station Barbers Point in April 15, 1942, at Ewa field, referring to the Ewa airfield as Naval Air Station Ewa, which later became Marine Corps Air Station Ewa on September 1, 1942; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Navy at the time of the closure of Naval Air Station Barbers Point in 1999 noted that the unique seventy-five concrete half dome "clamshell" aircraft revetments remaining are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places as an "historic revetments district" and the U.S. Navy has allowed Barbers Point stables to adaptively reuse thirty-four of the historic aircraft revetments as horse stables since at least 1958; and

WHEREAS, further research for the National Register of Historic Places nomination of the 1942 aircraft revetments has determined that the aircraft flown in the June 1942, Battle of Midway, a crucial turning point of the Pacific War and considered as the U.S. Navy's most important battle in its history with the sinking of four of the Imperial Japanese aircraft carriers that bombed Pearl Harbor, can be traced directly to the still existing 1942 Ewa field revetments sites; and

WHEREAS, a national monument and national historic landmark designation of the historic 1942 aircraft revetments at former Marine Corps Air Station Ewa would further preserve and document Hawaii's involvement in World War II, serving as a focal point for the commemoration, remembrance, and honoring of the many brave Navy and Marine pilots from those same Ewa Field aircraft revetments who willingly sacrificed their lives for the foundation of victory in the Pacific and in World War II; and

WHEREAS, the announced plans for a major new Battle of Midway motion picture creating new national awareness of this incredible 1942 Pacific battle and the sacrifices made during this battle will further public interest in the preservation and site visitation of the Marine Corps Air Station Ewa revetments as a national monument and national landmark; and

WHEREAS, establishing the air station as the foundation for victory in the Pacific and World War II will create opportunities for employment, education, and community pride for the people of Hawaii; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, the Senate concurring, that the President of the United States, United States Secretary of Defense, United States Secretary of the Interior, and United States Navy are respectfully urged to preserve the Marine Corps Air Station Ewa aircraft revetments as a national monument and national historic landmark; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States; United States Secretary of Defense; United States Secretary of the Interior; Commander, Navy Region Hawaii; and members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Ewa Field Aircraft Revetments; National Historic Monument; National Historic Landmark; Preservation

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	176
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII