Editing Hickam Air Force Base (section)

=== World War II ===
[[File:Hickam Army Airfield Hawaii 1942 Yearbook.pdf|thumb|220px|Hickam Army Airfield 1942 Yearbook]]
When the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked Oahu on 7 December 1941]], its planes bombed and strafed Hickam to eliminate air opposition<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web
 |url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1908&ResourceType=District 
 |title=Hickam Field 
 |access-date=2008-07-04 
 |work=National Historic Landmark summary listing 
 |publisher=National Park Service 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206094909/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1908&ResourceType=District 
 |archive-date=2008-12-06 
}}</ref> and prevent American aircraft from following them back to their aircraft carriers. Hickam suffered extensive damage and aircraft losses, with 189 people killed and 303 wounded. Notable casualties included nine [[Honolulu Fire Department]] (HFD) firefighters (three killed, six injured) who fought fires at Hickam during the attack; they later received [[Purple Heart]]s for their heroic actions that day in peacetime history, the only civilian firefighters awarded as such to date.

During [[World War II]], the base became a major center for training pilots and assembling aircraft. It also served as the hub of the Pacific aerial network, supporting transient aircraft ferrying troops and supplies to—and evacuating wounded from—the forward areas—a role it would reprise during the [[Korean War|Korean]] and [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]] wars and earning it the official nickname "America's Bridge Across the Pacific".