HANGER 11 - HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE

HANGER 11
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE
OAHU, HAWAII

This post has nothing to do with food but I really wanted to share this with my blog readers.  I had a meeting today at Hanger 11 at Hickam Air Force Base.  Hickam is a beautiful military base located next to the Honolulu International Airport and adjacent to Pearl Harbor.  The base and its large squadrons of military aircraft were heavily damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor on
 December 7, 1941.  One of the more famous photographs is the one below showing Hanger 11 in shambles and a damaged B-18 aircraft parked in front of it.  Walking into the hanger took me back in history as we gazed at the bullet ridden walls inside the hanger.  I had so many thoughts about what happened inside and outside of this hanger some seventy years ago.  Who was here.  What did it sound like.  Who died.  Who lived?  The hanger has been totally refurbished with the exception of the walls.  They have been left "as is" complete with hundreds of bullet holes.  The strafing from Japanese bombers must have been intense.  Cannot imagine the hell that our brave men and woman went through on this terrible day in American history.  Hanger 11 today is now used as a warehouse for building and maintenance materials that are distributed to field workers and technicians for Hickam Air Force Base and Pearl Harbor Naval Air Station.  If base housing needs a new air conditioner, toilet, plumbing supplies or building materials they will most likely come out of Hanger 11.
God Bless the men and woman who proudly serve in the United States Military!

HICKAM HANGER 11 ON DECEMBER 7, 1941 

LOOKS LIKE A BOMB WENT THROUGH THE ROOF

HANGER 11 AT HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE 2012

INSIDE OF HANGER 11 TODAY.  HANGER IS HOME TO COMPANY THAT PROVIDES
BUILDING MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES TO HICKAM AFB AND PEARL HARBOR

BULLET HOLES REMAIN ON THE WALLS TODAY INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF HANGER 11

THESE ARE NOT YOUR AVERAGE BULLET HOLES

CANNOT IMAGINE THE SOUNDS OF ROUNDS HITTING THE BUILDING ON DECEMBER 11

BULLET MARKINGS ARE ALL OVER THE WALLS.  HANGER 11 WAS HIT HARD

THIS PHOTO HANGS ON THE WALL INSIDE HANGER 11 TODAY.
REAR VIEW OF WRECKED HANGER 11 AT HICKAM FIELD,
WITH B-18 OF THE 18TH BOMB WING ON THE RIGHT

Destruction at Hickam Field

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Hickam Field two times. At the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, Hickam Field was the only U.S. Army airbase in Hawaii that was long enough to handle B-17 bombers. It was located adjacent to the Pearl Harbor Naval Base. During the second attack, Nakajima B5N "Kates" from the aircraft carrier Zuikaku bombed the hangars, barracks, and flight line. Nearly half of the airplanes at Hickam Field were destroyed or severely damaged.

Photo shows Hangar No. 11 at Hickam Field, on December 7, 1941.