Ford Island is a 433-acre island strategically located in the middle of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It was purchased by the United States Army for use as an airfield for the defense of Honolulu and Pearl Harbor in 1913 and was named Luke Field in honor of Lt. Frank Luke, an Army aviator killed in action during World War I. Air Corps flying was the only human activity on the island until the Navy moved its flying operations from Pearl Harbor Naval Base in 1923. As technology improved and aircraft became more powerful and capable in the 30's, joint flying operations made the small airfield a congested and somewhat dangerous place. The Army finally decided to move its flying operations to the newly constructed and more spacious Hickam Field, leaving Ford Island entirely to the Navy.

Ford Island was surrounded by the ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in 1941. Moored off its shores on Sunday, December 7th, were some of the largest ships of the fleet. Among them were the cruisers Detroit and Raleigh, the seaplane tender Tangier and seven battleships - Nevada, Arizona, Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, Oklahoma and California. Navy patrol and scout planes filled the airfield and hangars. Numerous carrier-based planes that would have normally been parked at the Ford Island were at sea aboard their aircraft carriers for exercises that fateful morning.

The swift, surprise attack by hundreds of Japanese airplanes came in two waves. The first began at 7:55 a.m. and the second ended two hours later. The attack was awesome in its destructiveness. Two thousand, four hundred and three soldiers, sailors, marines, and civilians were killed. Eighteen ships were sunk or seriously damaged. Aircraft were scattered in pieces next to burning hangars on Ford Island's airfield. One hundred and eighty-eight planes were destroyed and another 159 damaged. The mighty Pacific Fleet lay shattered and in ruins in the harbor. December 7, 1941 became the "date that will live in infamy." World War II had begun for the United States of America.

PRESERVING A NATIONAL TREASURE

Today, Ford Island is quiet but it still shows the scars of war even after sixty-seven (more than six decades?) years. The United States Navy has embarked on a plan to revitalize and improve Ford Island and to provide additional new housing for Naval personnel stationed on Oahu. A development agreement has been awarded to Hunt Building Company, Inc. to upgrade island infrastructure and build 420 units of family housing and retail operations on 34 acres. The first housing addition is expected to start later this year.

Ford Island development became feasible when the Navy built a modern causeway to the island a few years ago. Previously, all traffic to and from Ford Island was by ferry. The causeway has also become a key in opening the way for the Pacific Aviation Museum. Now it is feasible for large numbers of people to enter and exit the island each day.

Ford Island is also a National Historic Landmark. In developing the master plan in the 1990s, the Navy consulted with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Historic Hawaii Foundation. The Navy agreed to protect several historic buildings and nearby grounds. However, preserving these artifacts is outside the Navy's primary mission, so an innovative way had to be found for adaptive reuse and preservation. Perhaps serendipitously, a group of concerned Hawaii citizens stepped forward with a solution: create a world class aviation museum in the historic hangars that survived the attack that started World War II for the United States.