On December 7, 1941, 51 airplanes were on the ground at Hickam Field, the headquarters of the Hawaii Air Force, and a flight of 12 B-17s was expected to arrive that morning. The first wave of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was primarily targeting battleships and carriers, but the airfields were also to be hit to prevent a counterattack .At Hickam Field, Japanese Zero fighters and Val dive-bombers strafed and bombed the fight line and hangars, concentrating on the B-17 bombers. The second wave of the Japanese attack struck Hickam at 8:40am and by 9:45 the attack was over. Nearly half of the airplanes at Hickam Field had been destroyed or severely damaged. The hangars, the Hawaiian Air Depot, several base facilities -- the barracks, the fire station, the chapel and the guardhouse -- had been hit. Hickam's casualties totaled 121 men killed, 274 wounded and 37 missing. Despite the damage inflicted by the Japanese, they had ignored the vital repair facilities and gasoline storage tanks at Hickam, Pearl Harbor and elsewhere on Oahu. Hickam Field emerged from the attack stronger than before and played an important role in World War II and since. (Based on information from the National Park Service; http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/aviation/hic.htm)
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