The Attacks on Oahu

Published Dec. 5, 2013
By Casey Connell
379th Air Expeditionary Wing Historian

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Saturday, Dec.7, 2013, will be the 72nd anniversary of the Japanese Empire's attack on U.S. Military Forces stationed on the territory of Hawaii, specifically Oahu, as well as their opening bid to conquest the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean and most of Southeast Asia.

Search any library database or the internet using the words Pearl Harbor and you will be inundated with books, articles, movies and television episodes that conduct interviews with survivors, debate whether or not it was a Japanese victory or seek to find someone to blame for a military operation that brought the U.S. onto the stage of world events that it will never exit.

For the men and women of the Air Force, this is a chapter in their history taking pride in the actions of their forbearers on that fateful day. A day in which U.S. Army Air Force personnel showed a courage under fire and a resiliency in the face of a determined foe bringing an overwhelming force to bear against a military that was yet untested in battle.

The first U.S. Army Air Force unit to feel the brunt of the attack was 12 B-17 Bombers composed of six each from the 38th and 88th Reconnaissance Squadrons arriving from Hamilton Field, Calif. en route to the Philippines. They spotted a large group of planes heading toward them and assumed they were an escort to Hickam Field. As the Japanese planes engaged them with machine gun fire, the B-17 pilots realized they had flown into an attack. Out of the 12 B-17's, 10 were able to make emergency landings with six at Hickam, one at Bellows and two at Haleiwa Fields. The final B-17 under intense enemy attack managed to put his plane down at Kahuku Golf Course.

As the planes of the Imperial Japanese Navy made part of their initial attack on Hickam, Wheeler and Bellows Fields, U.S. Army Air Force ground and air personnel awoke to chaos and responded with a steadfast determination to defend their country in the face of the surprise attack. Ground personnel attended to the wounded and manned anti-aircraft defenses while a few pilots made it into the air aboard their P-40 Warhawks or P-36 Hawk aircraft to contest the skies over Pearl Harbor against futile odds.

At Haleiwa Field which had gone unscathed in the initial attack, 2nd Lts. George S. Welch and Kenneth M. Taylor took off in their P-40 Warhawks after a 16 mile ride in 15 minutes from Wheeler Field. Engaging over two to three hundred Japanese aircraft, Welch shot down four while Taylor shot down two.

1st Lt. Lewis M. Sanders, and 2nd Lts. Harry W. Brown and Phillip M. Rasmussen took to the air in P-36A Hawk gunnery trainers equipped with only a single .30 caliber machine gun to bag three more Japanese planes. These selfless actions did not go unnoticed as all five pilots were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for their valor and bravery.

At Bellows Field 1st Lt. Samuel W. Bishop, and 2nd Lts. Hans C. Christiansen and George A. Whiteman attempted to get airborne in the face of an enemy attack. Christiansen was killed from a strafing attack as he tried to get into his plane. He received the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his actions. Whiteman was strafed by two Japanese Zeros as he attempted to lift off only to have his plane burst into flames crashing at the end of the runway. Whiteman also received the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his actions as well as having Sedalia Air Force Base, in the state of Missouri, renamed in his honor on Dec. 3, 1955.

Following Whiteman off the runway, Bishop was unable to gain significant altitude before coming under attack. With extensive damage to his aircraft and a bullet wound in the leg, Bishop crashed into the sea and was able to swim back to shore to fight another day. Receiving the Silver Star for his actions, Bishop's citation read,

"Lieutenant Bishop's initiative, presence of mind, coolness under fire against overwhelming odds in his first battle and determined action contributed to a large extent toward driving off this sudden enemy air attack."

Although most of the recognition goes to those pilots who made it into the air or died trying, there were many more acts of sacrifice and heroism on the ground such as Staff Sgt. Charles Fay of the 72nd Pursuit Squadron who ran into a burning hangar to retrieve a plane. Wounded Pvt. Donald D. Plant of the 46th Pursuit Squadron was killed while assisting other wounded airmen.

The attack of Dec. 7, 1941, continues to resonate with the American people as a story of a nation that was thrust into a world war assuming a global leadership that has sustained a free and democratic way of life to this very day. One could also claim that Japan's decisive aerial attack spawned the concept of a U.S. Air Force which was to prove itself vital to the national defense over the skies of Europe and the Pacific those subsequent years.

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