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December 7th, 1941. You are dozing in your barracks, trying to recover from a Saturday night out on the big town of Honolulu. You still have your dress pants on as you snore away the previous night’s dancing. Christmas is coming and there are a lot of parties to attend.
Fifty-one airplanes were on the ground at Hickam, the headquarters of the Hawaii Air Force. A flight of twelve B-17 Flying Fortresses en-route from California to the Philippines was expected that morning. Due to weight considerations, none of the B-17s were armed and were low on fuel after the long haul across the water. |
 Dawn is breaking |
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 Ready to roll |
At 8:40am the Japanese struck Hickam, and by 9:45 the attack was over. Many of the B-17s were on the ground at the airfield; some were forced to attempt to land elsewhere. One enterprising pilot, forced away from Bellows, landed on the fairway of the Kahuku Golf Course. In all ten of the B-17s survived the attack, a bit worse for wear, and went on to play a vital role in the war in the Pacific.
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 The enlisted men's barracks today In the course of an hour, Hickam’s casualties totaled 121 men killed, 274 wounded and 37 missing. As many buildings on base were destroyed, the Honolulu Fire Department’s Kalihi and Palalma stations responded to battle the blaze in the hangars. The enlisted men’s barracks had been repeatedly strafed and bombed, the devastation can still be seen today in the walls. Where bullets went through the walls the holes are now framed in what is currently office space. |
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 Honor Guard
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Today, sixty-nine years later, many people do not know that Hickam also fell on that day. So much press has been given to Pearl Harbor, and rightly so as they had huge loss of life, while little has been said about the other attacks. The Japanese forces took out Kaneohe, Bellows, Hickam and other airfields around Oahu first as insurance that no aircraft would give chase during the second wave of attacks on Pearl Harbor Shipyard. |
| Attending the ceremony was extremely moving for me personally. My father Lynn was a Navy pilot in WW II, his brother Newt was an Army Air Forces pilot who was shot down and held prisoner of war by the Japanese. My mother’s brother, 1st Lt. James E. Roach was killed while faithfully serving his country in the U.S. Air Force.
 Taps
The best way I can describe this is in pictures as I’m at a loss for words today. I have a photoset up here .
Thank you to our Military for all your service in keeping my country safe. God bless you and our beautiful America. Aloha,
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Archive for the Category ◊ Our Military ◊
A look at the world’s BIGGEST Skimobile! |
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Recently I was privileged to attend the stopover at Hickam AFB of the LC-130, the cargo transport aircraft that flies mission critical equipment and personnel from the USA to Antarctica for Operation Deep Freeze. A huge, awesome, kick –it plane that has skis to land on ice, massive cargo space and additional rockets added to the exterior to help it take off in adverse conditions. A great follow up to my earlier visit as a guest of the 19th Fighter Squadron Realignment and Assumption of Command Ceremony.
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 The LC-130 headed for Antarctica |
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 "The City of Albany" based out of Schenectady Airport |
This miracle of avionic transportation happens to be based in the town I grew up in: Schenectady NY. The place I spent all my adult life trying to get away from since 1972 because I thought I was destined to make the big time. Outta here! Bright Lights, Big City! Here I come! Be careful where your heart leads you. Because sometimes you may not be ready for the memories it stirs up. Turns out I was just destined to be me.
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| We get older, we get wiser. I had no idea how important my small town upstate NY burg was to the history of our Military. And as I talked to the crew I realized that many of them were from the area. Funny how life works, I had to move over 5,000 miles away to be proud of where I grew up.
And speaking of pride, the pride of the Operation Deep Freeze program is the LC-130 aircraft.
 JATO brackets Photo coutrtesy Kyle Nishioka The prototype was developed in 1956 and designed with retractable skis that allow the aircraft to land on snow and ice as well as on traditional runways. In addition to the skis, the plane has exterior mounted jet-assisted-takeoff rockets; four on each side of the aircraft. These are installed and ignited when shorter takeoff runs are needed or the plane is lifting off from rough, unprepared snow. The “JATO” rockets stay attached to the hull after they have done their liftoff assist. Originally designed to jettison away from the aircraft, they were re-designed to stay put until manually removed after several accidents. Currently all LC-130 aircraft are operated by the New York Air National Guard 109th Airlift Wing based out of Schenectady Airport. In 1988 the 109th became the flight division for the Navy’s support and logistics for “Operation Deep Freeze”, which had been operating since 1955. We have some great pics of the LC-130 here by Kyle (@madmarv on Twitter) and my photoset here. |
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Operation Deep Freeze supports the National Science Foundation’s research and exploration located at McMurdo Station on Ross Island, Antarctica. I think of “Islands” like here in Hawaii. Sunshine, beaches, sand and surf. Not temps with lows of minus 50 degrees Centigrade and the highs at plus 8 degrees Centigrade. *BRRRRR*! And I complain when it get’s down in the 70’s here… |
 Ski bottoms are coated with Teflon for maximum slippiness! |
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| In addition to the National Science Foundation, Operation Deep Freeze agencies include the Federal Aviation Administration , National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , National Aeronautics and Space Administration , US Geological Survey , the US Coast Guard , and others, including many international partners.
 McMurdo Station on Ross Island, Antarctica *WHEW* Who knew there was so much going on down there at the bottom of the Planet Earth? And even more exciting for Hawaii is that the 2010-2011 Operation Deep Freeze season is the first time in history that our own Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam So, from here the LC-130 is headed for Christchurch New Zealand readying for it’s last leg to McMurdo Station. Then it’s off to the Big Chill for several months before returning home. I was so excited about getting the chance to tour the LC-130, the following day I was chatting with a guy on Facebook who grew up in Schenectady and smugly told him about it… thinking no one else but MOI knew this cool fact! It turns out his company services the props for the jets… So much for MY big news It really is a small rock we all live on: from Schenectady to Hawaii to Antarctica. We are all pretty close after all. Take care, Biz  Welcome to First CLass! |
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19th Fighter Squadron Rocks on! |
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In case you hadn’t noticed, the Military has a big presence here in Hawaii. It is a major factor in our economy right up there with tourism as far as bringing revenue into the state. But beyond the dollar $igns, the Military is people. On Oahu alone we have Hickam Air Force Base, Kaneohe Marine Base, Pearl Harbor Naval Base, the Tripler Army Medical Center, Wheeler Air Field, and other installations. It’s estimated that 1 in 9 are military-related residents, so that is a lot of people contributing to our population! |
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 Yes, that is a Ship! |
I was recently honored to attend the 19th Fighter Squadron Realignment and Assumption of Command Ceremony on October 4, 2010 on Hickam Air Force Base.
What is Hickam AFB? On January 31, 2010 the two historic military installations, Naval Station Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base, joined to become the Joint Base Pearl Harbor -Hickam. They do remain separate facilities though; so today we are going to cruise through the AFB.
Here’s a quick video cruise for you.
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| Hickam AFB consists of 2,850 acres of land and facilities bordering Pearl Harbor and is valued at more than $444 million. In 1934 the Army Air Corps saw the need for another airfield in Hawaii. Hickam was dedicated May 31, 1935 and named in honor of Lt Col Horace Meek Hickam, a distinguished aviation pioneer. It was completed and officially activated on September 15, 1938. It was the main army airfield in Hawaii and the only one large enough to accommodate the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. Initially part of the United States Army, the United States Air Force was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947.
When the Japanese attacked Oahu’s military installations on Dec. 7, Hickam suffered extensive damage and aircraft losses. Through the Korean, Vietnam and Cold War periods Hickam continued to play a major role in the defense of our country and was named “America’s Bridge Across the Pacific”. This is home to the 19th Fighter Squadron. The 19th is known as the “Gamecocks” for the fighting birds who dominate all opponents with deadly hitting power.
Fast forward to today: The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is a single-seat, twin-engine fifth generation fighter aircraft designed to… well…kick some serious butt in combat. And Hickam is now the new home of the F-22. |
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| The ceremony was awe-inspiring, not just for the implication of the powerful 19th Fighter Squadron defense unit being here in Hawaii, but also for the overwhelming dedication these personnel have to faith, family and our country.
So because our pictures say it better than words, let’s look at some of the results of our media group.
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 The F-22 Raptor |
| @coffee_tweets was burning the midnight oil to get her photos up here.
@gabrielmy has a few up here in his twitpic stream.
@rickyli99 has what I would call “Best in Show” here.
Waiting for @colinsato, @synwpn and @dallasnagata to get some pics, will post links as soon as I get them!
 One Nation, under God
I’ll wrap up with my photo set which I like to think makes up in enthusiasm what it lacks in talent!
Many thanks to @apocalypse81
and @pacificcommand for inviting me to attend!
I’ll close with this video I took. Again, remember I’m ENTHUSIASTIC! Much Aloha to you from Biz…
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Just listen to the music, ok?