Veterans and historians consider it hallowed ground, but parts of the airfield are being transferred to a private company and there is concern an important chapter in U.S. history will soon be bulldozed to make way for homes and shopping malls.

Minutes before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor they unloaded on the Marine Corps Air Station at Ewa.

"World War II started here two minutes before Pearl Harbor got hit. This was the spot. The first spot," Al Shoehigh told KGMB9 while standing near the 18th green at the Barber's Point Golf Course.

Shoehigh worked with the Navy and the National Park Service to have a plaque put up at the golf course. The plaque commemorates the attack on December 7, 1941 and honors the four Marines who were killed during the attack.

"We're right here by where the operations tower building was. This is where the planes were lined up basically when the Japanese planes came flying in," said John Bond, a Ewa resident and amateur war historian.

Bond recently gave us a tour of the old base. It closed back in 1952 and there is not much left.

"People moved and nobody paid any more attention to this whole place and its just become overgrown with keawe trees and tall brush," Bond added.

The air station was once bustling with activity. It was a relatively new base in December of 1941. There were about 50 planes parked along the runway. The Marines had no idea they were about to be hit ... and hit hard.

"The first wave of Japanese aircraft that coming in actually came around the Waianae Mountains on the West Coast," said Syd Jones referencing a large map of Oahu. "As you can see, as the airplanes came in here toward Pearl Harbor and Hickam Field, poor old Ewa is right in the middle of their path," said Jones, restoration director at the Pacific Aviation Museum. Jones told KGMB9 the Ewa Air Station was hit by planes on route to Pearl Harbor and again by planes on their way back to the Japanese naval fleet.

Thirty-two of the 49 planes at Ewa were destroyed . Another 15 were damaged. Four Marines and two civilians were killed.

Satellite images show parts of the Barber's Point Golf Course were built on airstips added to the Ewa Air Station after the December 7 attack. The original airfield is on land the Navy is giving up ... transferring to several groups including the City and County of Honolulu, the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the F.A.A., and Ford Island Partners / Hunt Development Group.

The parcel going to Ford Island Partners / Hunt Development Group is by far the largest parcel of old airfield the Navy is giving up.

Bond is worried what about what Hunt will build on the property.

"Burger Kings, McDonalds, Blockbuster Videos, shopping malls. Anything could be developed as part of their lease," Bond said.

Steve Colon, president of the Hawaii Division of Hunt, said in a statement to KGMB9 there are no specific plans for the land. He added, "The plans will acknowledge and address the short and long term needs of the community and will contribute positively to the quality of life for West Oahu residents.

That does not satisfy Bond. He wants a national park or national monument established at the old airfield. And he hopes President Bush will help.

On May 28 the president issued a memorandum to the Secretary of the Interior. Bush wrote "... there are objects of historic and scientific interest at Pearl Harbor and at other sites across the Pacific that may be appropriate for recognition and possible protection through the designation of a national monument."

Only time will tell if Ewa is makes the list, but time is short. The land is scheduled to be conveyed to Hunt Development in July or early August.

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