MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii --Newcomers and old-timers alike are invited on an odyssey in search of rich and abundant, historical landmarks aboard the 2,951 acres of Mokapu Peninsula. Now home to MCB Hawaii and translated "sacred lands," Mokapu Peninsula boasts many relics and outposts once alive with the grim realities of wartime America, circa 1940s and beyond - many quite sobering.This journey begins at the front gate. Erected there is the December 7 Monument, which reads: "In memory of those galant Americans who defended this air station against enemy attack Dec. 7, 1941."Travelling to Middaugh St., you will come to Fort Hase Beach and the Range Training Facility. Fort Hase, born in July 1918 by decree of President Woodrow Wilson, was first known as Kuwaaohe Military Reservation, then as Camp Ulupau, then renamed Fort Hase. This beach area was iniitially an Army artillery post, headquarters to the Windward Oahu Coastal Artillery Defense.Further down Middaugh St., and now off limits to the public, rests Battery Pennsylvania, mostly hidden in the steep ridges of Ulupau Crater, just beyond the rifle range. Battery Penn. was erected in these cliffs as perimeter defense between April 1943 and August 1945. Most prominent amongst Mokapu's coastal armament defenses, its artillery unit would receive recognition for sinking a submarine offshore in 1942. The battery itself would be outfitted with the steel turret containing three 14-inch guns salvaged from the USS Arizona."The battery was fully air conditioned, had aid stations, a mess hall, stores, and the tunnels were large enough to drive trucks through," recalled retired Army Maj. Charles Wilson Tucker in June 1992.Backtracking to Manning St., you may have seen the marker from streetside announcing the Mokapu Burial Dunes. Following the attacks on the naval air station, the 18 Sailors, one civilian and one Japanese pilot killed during the war were initially buried in the ancient burial grounds of Heleloa - those sand dunes on the North Shore of Mokapu Peninsula. Hole 4 of the Klipper Golf Course contains the marker rededicated to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, "soldier-statesman," Oct. 14, 1990.A residence on Nimitz Road, a private road in the officers' family housing area relishes a bit of nostalgia. The residence is known as the Eisenhower House, recalling when "Ike" visited what was then Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay and stayed in the quarters June 22-25, 1960. According to historical records, Eisenhower's staff resided at the Bachelor Officers Quarters, the press corps set up operations in the Officers Club, and the secret service occupied and manned special communications equipment in the garage of Eisenhower House.Straight up from Reeves Rd. looms Puu Hawaii Loa, presently known as Kansas Tower or KT. Puu Hawai Loa originally served as a control tower. Inspired by Cmdr. Harold M. Martin, Kaneohe Naval Air Station's first commanding officer in November 1940, aircraft controllers used the complex to see the entire western coast of windward Oahu.Puu Hawaii Loa was known by many names, including Baker and K-Tower, a code name used in communications and radio contact with aircraft, according to military documents.At the base of Puu Hawaii Loa, travelling southwest on Reed Rd. lies the impact site of the highest ranking Japanese officer to be killed during the war, Lt. Fusata Iida, a pilot and commander of Japan's Third Air Control Group.Travelling to First St., Hangar 101 is the first in a row of five, situated adjacent Kaneohe Bay. The hangar was one of two bombed during World War II. It blazed afire most of that day when Japanese pilots used glide-bombing techniques, flying at a low altitude of 500 feet, according to Marine Tech. Sgt. Frank Fiddler, in "A Study of the Land." The long-since repaired steel hangar sits on its concrete pavement that doubled as a parking lot for PBY Catalina seaplanes - long-range reconnaissance patrol planes - in 1941. Five concrete ramps had led the flying boats from the parking area into the bay. Today, you can put your hands in the bullet strafings outside Hangar 101, where the bombs left their scars.Nearing the end of your journey, Bldg. 215, now the commanding general's building was said to have served as a hospital or infirmary during WWII. Across from it and adjacent the base flagpole lies the Kaneohe Klipper Monument. The survivors association dedicated the monument to its fallen WWII comrades, in December 1981. The monument lists the names of the air station's dead.The monument is perhaps a befitting place to end this trek as you began. However, as you depart toward your destination, allow the thoughts of your travels to sink in. The expedition was but a mere moment out of your typical day. Yet, many of the landmarks you visited contain a lifetime of memories for the many who lived its history.