75th Pearl Harbor Anniversary: MCAS Ewa Field
By John Bond
Pearl Harbor battlefield and home base for eleven Medal of Honor recipient pilots
The very FIRST US Medal of Honor recipient of WW-II by combat date was pilot Hank Elrod from Ewa Field who was killed in action defending Wake Island in December, 1941 (awarded 1945).
MCAS Ewa Field's historic fighter plane aircraft revetments still exist and have been used for scenes in major motion pictures as well as for Ewa community horse riding stables.
Marine Corps Air Station Ewa was the major US Marine Corps WW-II aviation training and support base where eleven Medal of Honor recipient pilots received their advanced air combat training in planes like the Wildcat, Corsair and Hellcat. Among them was Charles Lindbergh Medal Of Honor recipient, who was awarded his as a civilian pilot in 1927 and went on to fly air combat missions as a civilian pilot advisor to the US Marine Corps and US Army Air Force in the Pacific. Lindbergh received his advanced air combat training at MCAS Ewa Field in the USMC F4-U Corsair in 1944.
Many famous US Marine Corps squadrons and air combat aces came from MCAS Ewa,Including the legendary Medal of Honor recipient "Pappy" Boyington of the "Black Sheep."
