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San Francisco & Hawaii


Johan Willaert
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Johan Willaert

Hi all,

 

I'm thinking about a trip to SF and Hawaii next year; about a week or so in both places.

 

I would like to take the opportunity to visit some WW2 related sites. Obviously I would visit the Arizona Memorial.

I would appreciate other suggestions...

 

Any ideas? Related websites?

 

Thanks,

 

Johan

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Check out this link to many of the California military sites. Many of these are in the San Francisco area. http://www.militarymuseum.org/camilavmuslinks.html

 

I highly recommend a visit to the WWII submarine: USS Pampanito in SF. http://www.maritime.org/pamphome.htm

 

Also the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, a WWII Liberty ship http://www.ssjeremiahobrien.org/

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Salvage Sailor

Aloha Johan,

 

There are several sites in Pearl Harbor besides the Arizona Memorial. Just beside this park is the Submarine Museum, and on Ford Island is the USS MISSOURI & the new Pacific Air Museum. You can also go around to view the wreckage of the USS UTAH.

 

On Hickam AFB you can see the visible damage to the original buildings, lots of MG & shrapnel hits and gouges. Some of the buildings (PACAF HQ, 15th Airlift Wing, etc) have nice displays in the building lobbies.

 

In Waikiki is Fort Derussy and the free US Army Museum - not to be missed. It's an old Coast Artillery battery with aircraft, armored vehicles, weapons and a Hall of the Heroes. The Hall has an extensive display of US Medals and awards with background information on the recipients.

 

There are also bunkers doting the landscape of Oahu, at Diamond Head, Kaneohe, & Makapu lighthouse that are easy to reach via public access.

 

There ya go.....

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You may also want to stop by at the National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific, Punchbowl Cemetary which is located

above downtown Honolulu, and the 25th Division Museum at Schofield Barracks in Wahiawa. Please call to check when the Museum is open. If you need any other help, send me a PM.

Aloha,

Dennis

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Airborne-Hunter

Sorry to rain on your parade, but San Francisco doesn't have much other than the WWII submarine: USS Pampanito in SF and the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, a WWII Liberty ship...I live in the area and it's sad. San Francisco and Berkeley are full of commies and hippies, and they certainly don't like militaria. It's really sad. All that I can recommend is the american civil war fort..... "Fort Point" ....it's under the golden gate bridge.

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Airborne-Hunter

Sorry to rain on your parade, but San Francisco doesn't have much other than the WWII submarine: USS Pampanito in SF and the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, a WWII Liberty ship...I live in the area and it's sad. San Francisco and Berkeley are full of commies and hippies, and they certainly don't like militaria. It's really sad. All that I can recommend is the american civil war fort..... "Fort Point" ....it's under the golden gate bridge.

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Aloha Johan,

 

There are several sites in Pearl Harbor besides the Arizona Memorial. Just beside this park is the Submarine Museum, and on Ford Island is the USS MISSOURI & the new Pacific Air Museum. You can also go around to view the wreckage of the USS UTAH.

 

On Hickam AFB you can see the visible damage to the original buildings, lots of MG & shrapnel hits and gouges. Some of the buildings (PACAF HQ, 15th Airlift Wing, etc) have nice displays in the building lobbies.

 

In Waikiki is Fort Derussy and the free US Army Museum - not to be missed. It's an old Coast Artillery battery with aircraft, armored vehicles, weapons and a Hall of the Heroes. The Hall has an extensive display of US Medals and awards with background information on the recipients.

 

There are also bunkers doting the landscape of Oahu, at Diamond Head, Kaneohe, & Makapu lighthouse that are easy to reach via public access.

 

There ya go.....

 

If you know somebody with a military ID who can escort you around, Wheeler AFB still had much of it's 1940's appearance when I was last there in the 1980's. They used to have a fibre glass P-40 used for the filming of Tora, Tora, Tora at the front gate.

 

I don't know if these still exist or not, but at one time you could also see the remains of shore batteries along the back side of Hickam, but again, you would have to have an escort. The same with the tower at what was Bellows airfield.

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Salvage Sailor
You may also want to stop by at the National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific, Punchbowl Cemetary which is located

above downtown Honolulu, and the 25th Division Museum at Schofield Barracks in Wahiawa. Please call to check when the Museum is open. If you need any other help, send me a PM.

Aloha,

Dennis

 

I was going to mention Punchbowl Cemetary too, excellent mosaics of the Pacific Theater & Korean War. Highly recommended.

 

The 25th ID Museum is small, but they do have some Armored Vehicles out front.

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Salvage Sailor
If you know somebody with a military ID who can escort you around, Wheeler AFB still had much of it's 1940's appearance when I was last there in the 1980's. They used to have a fibre glass P-40 used for the filming of Tora, Tora, Tora at the front gate.

 

I don't know if these still exist or not, but at one time you could also see the remains of shore batteries along the back side of Hickam, but again, you would have to have an escort. The same with the tower at what was Bellows airfield.

 

The P-40 is still at the Wheeler gate along with a Huey. There is also a Cobra gunship on top of the Fort Derussy Museum.

 

You can still see the batteries at Hickam, but you have to know where to look. Which reminds me that there are also several Korean War & Vietnam war fighter jets at the Air National Guard buildings on Hickam near the Batteries.

 

The control towers and magazines for the Batteries are at Sand Island park. Most people who use the park now don't recognize them for what they were. Just like the massive concrete bus shelter outside Makalapa Gate at Pearl Harbor, which is actually the entrance to the Air Raid shelter.

 

Much of Bellows has been razed now since it's become the counter-terrorist training center.

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Tell me this, ... way up on the North Shore there used to be an airstrip... I think it was called Dillingham Field. In any case, I believe it was the airfield where Lt. Taylor and Walsh took off with their dispersed P-40's on Dec. 7th. Back in the 1980's, there were still revettments (sp?) at the one end of the field. I wonder if that is still there.

 

Oahu was laced with tunnels, including an intended aircraft assembly plant. It you knew where to look you could find entrances all over the island.

 

Ricardo mentioned Diamond Head... I don't know if this is still open, but at one time you could walk up the same concrete staircases built by the coast artillery and view both the ocean and the city from military observation posts built into the rim of the crater.

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I just had a chance to look over the list of historic sites shown above for California, and there is a bunch to see.

 

But depending on your interest in old military posts, the Presidio is certainly worth a visit, or at least a drive through.

 

I actually was lucky enough to visit it as an active US Army post, but even then it just seemed logical it was bound to be absorbed into the city. But much of the architecture is still there and you get a good feel for the history of the place.

 

http://www.nps.gov/prsf/

Presidio.JPG

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The Presidio in SF is worth allowing at least a half day to explore, longer if you have the time. The original cavalry stables are still being used (at least they were) by the SFPD mounted police. If you are polite and ask, they might let you take a little tour. Its really amazing. Drive around the base wherever you want, nobody will stop you unless you try to enter a building. If you see people going in and out, its probably ok.

 

The Officers Club was still in service last time I was there and next to it is the ONLY bowling alley in SF. Ft. point I believe is still closed (under the gg bridge)

 

The parade ground with the old brick barracks always gives me the goosebumps. Above ft. point are the old cannon emplacements with powder bunkers (brick) which are from the Civil War era. Alcatraz is worth seeing. There are still remnants of the Army base there and a great museum (free).

 

South of SF is Moffet field which has a huge hanger made of redwood. It housed the Navy Blimps. It is so huge that on some days the fog stays inside it like a cloud.

 

West/Northwest of the GG bridge (towards Stinson beach) there are some old WWII Coastal Artillery bunkers and emplacements that are interesting.

 

The Hornet at Alameda, and the Jeremiah Obrien and Pomanito at fishermans wharf, as mentioned are worth a look-see. The maritime museum is just West of the above.

 

Below is a typical presido picture. This structure is just Southwest of Crissy field one of the first biplane landing strips in the west.

post-3847-1218821062.jpg

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Johan Willaert

Wow, thanks for the reactions, seems I will need more than a week...

 

Just remembered this topic I started some time ago, about Fort de Russy Museum...

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...c=16520&hl=

 

I guess that next to the Lightweight gas mask, that mannequin also needs to loose the Hawaiian Dept SSI...

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Johan Willaert
The Presidio in SF is worth allowing at least a half day to explore, longer if you have the time. The original cavalry stables are still being used (at least they were) by the SFPD mounted police. If you are polite and ask, they might let you take a little tour. Its really amazing. Drive around the base wherever you want, nobody will stop you unless you try to enter a building. If you see people going in and out, its probably ok.

 

I drove thru the Presidio on a previous trip in 1996, but found it quite confusing without proper knowledge and guidance...

Did have a Big Whopper in the Burger King there... :lol:

 

And to top off my luck, that same week the Liberty Ship J. O'Brien was away somewhere, so missed that one too...

 

JOhan

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Airborne-Hunter
The Presidio in SF is worth allowing at least a half day to explore, longer if you have the time. The original cavalry stables are still being used (at least they were) by the SFPD mounted police. If you are polite and ask, they might let you take a little tour. Its really amazing. Drive around the base wherever you want, nobody will stop you unless you try to enter a building. If you see people going in and out, its probably ok.

 

The Officers Club was still in service last time I was there and next to it is the ONLY bowling alley in SF. Ft. point I believe is still closed (under the gg bridge)

 

The parade ground with the old brick barracks always gives me the goosebumps. Above ft. point are the old cannon emplacements with powder bunkers (brick) which are from the Civil War era. Alcatraz is worth seeing. There are still remnants of the Army base there and a great museum (free).

 

South of SF is Moffet field which has a huge hanger made of redwood. It housed the Navy Blimps. It is so huge that on some days the fog stays inside it like a cloud.

 

West/Northwest of the GG bridge (towards Stinson beach) there are some old WWII Coastal Artillery bunkers and emplacements that are interesting.

 

The Hornet at Alameda, and the Jeremiah Obrien and Pomanito at fishermans wharf, as mentioned are worth a look-see. The maritime museum is just West of the above.

 

Below is a typical presido picture. This structure is just Southwest of Crissy field one of the first biplane landing strips in the west.

 

Ft. Point was closed post 9/11/01 due to security issues with the GG Bridge...It has since been reopened and they have added several new rooms you can go in and look at. A couple of rooms dedicated to the GG Bridge and how it was made, while others are decidicated to many US wars up until Vietnam. The addmission is free. I was there just last week and it was great.

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The Presidio was actually two posts during WWII. There was the Presidio which housed the 30th Infantry Regiment prior to WWII and during WWII was used by Army Counter Intelligence Corps to train Nisei Language Experts for the war in the Pacific. THis portion of the base is on the east side of the base. On the west side of the base, there was Fort Winfield Scott which was a Coast Artillery post. The 6th Coast Artillery was stationed there, but other units such as the 18th Coast Artillery and the 56th Coast Artillery were there as well.

 

I would also check out the new National Park in Richmond, CA. The National Park Service has preserved the old Kaiser Steel Shipyard located there and a Ford Assembly Plant. I have not been there, but I have heard good things about the park. A word of warning, Richmond is not a nice place so don't stop on your way to the park and have plenty of gas. Also don't linger there after dark, unless you have a vest, an 870, and lots of ammo.

 

Besides these sites, the Marin Headlands have lots of gun emplacements, along with barracks, and the Nike Site. Also, Treasure Island was a Navy Base until the mid 1990s and has lots of nice 1930s/1940s buildings and may still have a decent Navy Museum. Oakland (also a little scary if you are in the wrong place) has FDR's Yacht, a former Navy Torpedo Boat. Finally, if you are there on the first Sunday of the month, I would go to the Alameda Point Antique Fair on the old Alameda Naval Air Station. The prices are high wholesale/low retail, but I've found a couple of nice items for good prices.

 

I grew up in the Bay Area so if you have any questions, ask as I think I have been to most of the WWII sites in the Bay Area.

 

Ian

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  • 2 weeks later...
Not WWII, but San Francisco has a fully restored Cold War era Nike Missile site:

 

http://www.nps.gov/goga/nike-missile-site.htm

 

I've been dying to see this one myself, but the on-line reviews say it is worth the trip!

 

 

This is definitely worth seeing. But make sure you know when it's open before you get here. The last time I visited (granted, a few years ago), it was run by a volunteer group who only opened it one weekend a month. While you're in that area (the Marin Headlands), check out the old coast artillery emplacements on the Marin side of the Golden Gate.

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