Holes in the Stairs

[dh1633pm]

Traveled to Hawaii last week at the last minute due to a hard down emergency. When walking up stairs I saw this:



There were other holes as well. Likely the stairwell was ventilated on December 7th. Seems somebody would have gotten around to fixing it. Looks like a 20mm?

 

[DustyRusty]

Why? They painted it!

That IS interesting. What building, where, age?

 

[dh1633pm]

I think the building was built in the 1930's. Its located on Hickam Field. The holes in the building including the stairs were never fixed.

 

[Old Dog]

Was that the medical clinic? I spent three years at the Bishop Point Naval Station Annex (ALFA Docks) which is actually attached to Hickam; I know that a lot of the bullet holes were left in the clinic (formerly the hospital) building, showed them to my kids, part of history.

 

[mm93]

When I was stationed at Hickam in 1969 the barracks still had bullet holes all over the front of the building. I asked what happened and of course was told thye were from WWII Pearl Harbor attack. I guess they wanted to keep them so they'll never forget.

 

[dh1633pm]

It was my understanding that the building was a barracks at one time and that many a life was lost in that building.

 

[Ignition Override]

One of the Japanese pilots also strafed a civilian car on a regular road with a very young couple inside, taking a typical Sunday morning drive.

Most of those people, in the barracks and car probably never knew what hit them at supersonic speed.

Think it was only the enemy doing this? Pardon me for saying so if this is awkward or offensive offensive. Don't get me wrong. I Really respect the danger our guys faced, and the immense sacrifices. Words can't begin to describe.
But a former USAAF P-47 'Thunderbolt' pilot confessed that he saw a guy fishing alone in Italy and hit him with his .50s. He was on a Youtube video somewhere iirc. It must be extremely difficult to switch aggression off, being human and young.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Wow, that would stop me in my tracks for sure.

Could be 20 Mike, the only other IJN aerial bullets in use would have been 7.7. There's always shrapnel as well, of course.

There were, however, plenty of frenzied US .50 cal (and .30) flying about. Could be friendly fire too.

 

[Mousegun]

That is from a mis-step made in the 60's from a cool dude wearing a pair of Tom McCann Sidewinder shoes with the pointy toes.

 

[Destructo6]

Some of those buildings and bullet holes are National Historic Landmarks and will not be repaired.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

I recently read a couple old issues of Air Classics (Feb and Oct 1969) about the film Tora Tora Tora that a friend loaned me, and afterward got out my DVD of the film and watched it again, including the making-of documentaries.

That lead me to re-read Cohen's East Wind Rain just a couple weeks ago -- it has this photo (p96) of strafing damage at Hickam's HQ building, taken circa 1980 and also painted over but still very visible.

 

[lightman]

Cool pictures!

I visited the Air Craft Carrier thats at Charleston and put my fingers in some of the bullet holes on the control tower. Stuff like that makes me pause for a minute as a tribute to the men and women that were there!

 

[Show Me]

When I was stationed at Hickam in 1969 the barracks still had bullet holes all over the front of the building. I asked what happened and of course was told thye were from WWII Pearl Harbor attack. I guess they wanted to keep them so they'll never forget.

Too bad you can ask a teenager and the won't know nuttn

 

[Ks5shooter]

Didnt know they left unrepaired.

 

[deadeye dick]

Too bad you can ask a teenager and the won't know nuttn

I was 2 when it happened. Don't remember it but i remember the aftermath and the hardship during the war. To this day i fly my flag at half mast on Dec. 7 and also June 6 th. NEVER FORGET

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Cool pictures!

I visited the Air Craft Carrier thats at Charleston and put my fingers in some of the bullet holes on the control tower. Stuff like that makes me pause for a minute as a tribute to the men and women that were there!

That was USS Yorktown CV-10, which earned 11 battle stars in WW2 and another 5 in Vietnam. She is the centerpiece of the Patriots Point Maritime Museum, an absolutely fantastic destination if someone is interested in such things.

I was fortunate that I was able to visit the NS Savannah during her time there- the first nuclear powered hybrid merchant/ passenger vessel. Unfortunately, she has since been removed and may not return or even be preserved at all.

 

[Riomouse911]

If you want to see bullet-scarred walls from WW-II, visit the former East Germany and Berlin. Its pretty clear the Russians wanted to show their Germanic subjects that they took Berlin by force, it seems like most buildings still around from that era are still pocked with thousands of bullet/shrapnel strikes.

I am glad to see those scars from war still there, keeping history alive.

Stay safe.

 

[kje54]

If only the Germans hadn't bombed Pearl Harbor..........

 

[230RN]

I was 2 when it happened. Don't remember it but i remember the aftermath and the hardship during the war. To this day i fly my flag at half mast on Dec. 7 and also June 6 th. NEVER FORGET

Me too, in NY City, but don't remember Pearl Harbor itself. What I do remember of WWII was the blackouts (everybody had blackout curtains), the bombers forming up to get to Canada to then fly to Europe... the roar of the planes was terrifying to this little kid. And my father, who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and had good ears and was in a position to hear things, mentioning that they had sunk another merchant ship off Long Island. Apparently, this unterseeboot activity right off our shore was to become a hush-hush matter.

Oh, yes, and the rationing and the turning in of all "waste" metals and rags to the horse-drawn junk wagons. I still remember them clip-clopping up the street with the junkman singing out "Raaaaaaags'n old ein." ("Rags and old iron") and ringing his bell. He'd stop and all the ladies of the block would bring their stuff out to him. He had a big spring scale hanging off one corner of the wagon where he'd weigh their cloth and metals (e.g., old pots) and pay them for various things by weight. I'd go out with my Mom and I'd pet the horse.

But that was 5000 miles away.

Sometimes I wonder how much of our stuff ended up as ammo and gun barrels and parachute cording and cellulose nitrate.

Terry, 230RN

 

[bangswitch]

Traveled to Hawaii last week at the last minute due to a hard down emergency. When walking up stairs I saw this:



There were other holes as well. Likely the stairwell was ventilated on December 7th. Seems somebody would have gotten around to fixing it. Looks like a 20mm?

That's most likely 7.7mm if it is a Japanese-made hole. If it had been 20mm, the stairwell would have been shredded. The 20mm cannons in the A6M and other planes it was used in generally used an explosive round.

 

[lemaymiami]

I've only been shot at a few times - and that was years ago... If I have a choice - the next time the balloon goes up, I want to be "somewhere else"... By the way one of my anglers about 15 years ago, was a retired sub skipper (he ran a "boomer" the boats that carried nukes..). In a passing conversation about 911, etc. he quietly said "the next time we get hit - we'll lose a city..." Must admit that stuck with me.

 

[jmr40]

I'm glad they decided to leave the holes as a reminder.

My dad was a senior in high school on 12/07/1941 and was drafted shortly after graduation. He served most of WW-2 stateside but was sent to Belgium as a replacement during the Battle of the Bulge. He stayed in Europe for a year after the war ended with occupation forces.

That was USS Yorktown CV-10, which earned 11 battle stars in WW2 and another 5 in Vietnam. She is the centerpiece of the Patriots Point Maritime Museum, an absolutely fantastic destination if someone is interested in such things.

I had a chance to visit Patriots point once over 30 years ago. I only had 2-3 hours and had to rush through things a lot faster than I'd have liked. In addition to the Yorktown there is the USS Laffey which has an amazing history of its own.

There were actually 2 destroyers named Laffey. The 1st sank early in the war, they built a 2nd one with the same name that served at D-Day and later in the Pacific. The 2nd one is in Charleston. It would be worth the trip to me to go back and spend a whole day there. Highly recommend.

USS Laffey (DD-724) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

When I was there in 1992 they had a WW-2 era submarine too. I don't think that is still there.

Anyone ever in Wilmington NC can also see the battleship North Carolina. It was built after WW-1 and was one of the smaller battleships to serve in WW-2. But is worth seeing.

Battleship North Carolina | Wilmington

This National Historic Landmark proudly serves as her State’s WWII Memorial to the 11,000+ North Carolinians who made the ultimate sacrifice.

battleshipnc.com

 

[Armored farmer]

I tend to think that part of the transformation that is going on is because nobody has taught the last two generations about the price of freedom.

 

[Bazoo]

My first thought was gang violence, glad I read on instead of just glancing at the pictures. Thank you for sharing.

There is a cannon ball embedded in the wall of a brick building in town from the civil war. I've looked at it many times as a kid.

 

[codytrucker]

I went to Ford island in Pearl harbor a couple of times for work when I lived in Honolulu in the ninety's . there is some damage from the attack all around , and the battleship Utah still where she sank . A navy captain we were working for said it was to be a constant reminder to be ever vigilant . I wish every American could see the Pearl harbor battlefield and the Arizona Memorial .