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Show j 'i ii Ar COMT tnf S'TKnCTN THIOuON lOG'STlCS 17 safe when winter driving. Be Aj Hilltop Times JO " Dec. 6, 1991 r jf v it u v o it M President Franklin D. Roosevelt called it the "day which will live in infamy." Fifty years later, the phrase still means Dec. 7 1941 the day the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack blasted the United States into World War II. The Japanese killed more than 2,300 U.S. servicemen and wounded more than 1,100 others. All eight battleships in the harbor were hit; five sank. Eleven other ships were sunk, and 140 aircraft were destroyed. Fifty years later Navy Yeoman 3rd Class Robert J. Watson recalls the attack in vivid detail. He watched the first Japanese planes dive on Battleship Row from his barracks on Ford Island. "I saw the planes coming in and thought it was one of the (U.S.) carrier j- - , ' i squadrons returning. "I saw the bombs falling off the planes like feathers and then the explosions and realized immediately they were Japanese." iS" Scene from hell Smoke and flames covered Pearl Harbor, as Watson manned his station through the night and into the day. The news of the attack, which came via the radio, stunned Utahns. Many Americans had been unaware of most of the diplomatic maneuvering concerning the Japanese during the months before the attack. Since Hitler's September 1939 invasion of Poland, Americans were generally interested more in the events of Europe, said David Kendziora, of the Hill AFB History Office. With ground broken for the base on Jan. 12, 1940, some hangars and buildings had been completed and new was well housing construction e of the attack. underway by the time The bombing had an immediate impact on those closest to the new base. One unlucky employee was ordered to remain at the base, on alert in case a friendly airplane should have to land at night, Kendziora said. At the time, the runway did not have lights, so it was to be his duty to drive a truck to one end of the runway and turn on the truck lights to enable off-bas- U S Out of harm's way After the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, the Army Corps transferred airplanes, like these to Hill Field from the West Coast as a precaution against possible bombing. On Dec. 8, 1941, Hill Field received authorization to double the number of workers and shifts were increased from two to three. Most of the civilian personnel were untrained. Before the war, pay for a mechanic trainee was $600 a month and on Dec. 16 it was increased to $900 a month, Kendziora said. JAPANESE AIRCRAFT DEPLOYMENT FIRST ATTACK Repair of transient aircraft was often outside with a cold breeze whistling down Weber Canyon. The B-2- si BGHTOIS DIVEIOMKRt . ;i OWE I0MKRS E 4 HORIZONTAL ' FIGHTERS W :; :l :i HORIZONTAL lOKIfRS TORPtOO UMBERS Cold wind blowing first major maintenance project inthe aircraft to land. was In broad daylight a seemingly end- itiated by the Ogden Air Depotmediless stream of aircraft and surface the winterization of Martin um bombers for service in Alaska. In transports unloaded endless streams the coming years, all types of Army of military cargo, .Kendziora said. A Hill Field, and worknear panic developed on the West aircraft transited Coast and hundreds of aircraft were ers contributed significantly to the war effort. flown to inland fields to get them and "During the years to follow, certain supplies out of harm's way. 'Remember Pearl Harbor' resounded Supplies originally destined for the as a clarion rallying cry," Kendziora Philippines were shipped to Hill Field. said. "Pearl Harbor Day honors those Aircraft were parked in the sand and mud and within days two feet of snow who died and those who survived and covered the field and wheels and went on to help win a world war," he said. "It also recalls the tragic lesson brakes were frozen solid. It was impossible to taxi the aircraft learned at such great cost." Parts of this article were written by so skids were built and the aircraft were towed indoors, where they Jim Garamone, American Forces Information Service. thawed. I0MIERS JSV 6 all-o- ONE LONE FIGHTER ut V-- fEARl HAHW" 1 x HtCltAM ZT j C' 9 newborns Heirforce increases 14 J WHEELER, KANEOHE, EWA, FORD ISUND, AND HICKAM HIT BY DIVE BOMBERS. PEARL HARBOR HIT BY HORIZONTAL, TORPEDO, AND DIVE BOMBERS. 43 FIGHTERS ESCORTED BOMBERS DOWN THROUGH CENTRAL OAHU, THEN BROKE OFF AND ATTACKED ALL INSTALLATIONS EXCEPT HALEIWA. BELLOWS HIT BY ONE LONE FIGHTER. r 1 Air Force Photo Christmas happenings Schedule of events on base 5 Strikers win Hill takes championship s, |