Fading History: Marine Corps Air Station Ewa

After my run on 2 February, I became interested in the railroad history of the line that runs from Honolulu around Pearl Harbor and through Ewa and Barbers Point.  The railroad grad is still there and from Ft. Weaver Road to the west the tracks are still there, at least as far as Kapolei, I'm not sure beyond that.  Anyway, my internet search for maps lead me to this very interesting site about abandoned airfields on Oahu.  Of particular interest was the section about the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Ewa.  There are some great historical photos of the MCAS there and a little bit of history. 

My curiosity piqued, I dug a little more and found this awesome site, www.december7.com, with some fantastic photos. I highly encourage you to cycle through the various pages on that site.  From there and a few other websites, I learned that the MCAS Ewa was abandoned by the Marines in 1952 when they consolidated their aviation activities at Kaneohe on the east (windward) side of Oahu, primarily because the runways at Ewa were too short to accommodate the new jet aircraft and due to how close the Barbers Point NAS was the Ewa runways could not be lengthened.  MCAS Ewa was absorbed into the Barbers Point NAS though the runways were not used and eventually two of them were torn up to build the Barbers Point golf course. 

Back to WWII, MCAS Ewa was likely the first location attacked during the Pearl Harbor raid by the Japanese on 7 December 1941.  Marines at Ewa fired on the Japanese aircraft and four lost their lives fighting there.  In fact, two Japanese pilots parachuted into the Ewa area.  More here and here.

There are folks interested in preserving MCAS Ewa.  Not only the guy that runs www.december7.com mentioned above, but others as well.

Comments

[Christy soutter]

The rail line actually runs all the way up the leeward coast through Waianae. You can take a train ride on the line on Sundays for $10 round trip. There's a "museum" of sorts on the right of Geiger road after the stinky water treatment plant. There are several dilapidated train cars there, and that's where the train rides are. Here's the url: http://www.hawaiianrailway.com/