KEN SAKAMOTO / STAR-BULLETIN
Will Schauer, seated in an L-19 reconaissance plane
used in Korea and Vietnam, will pilot the craft in a
fly-by over the USS Stennis. At right is John Gleeson.

WWII pilot helps
Disney resurrect
1941 Pearl attack

John Gleeson plans a
vintage flyby at sunset
for Monday's show

Japanese distributor hopeful

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

Throughout this week, aviation booster John Gleeson will spend several hours in the air re-creating the route Japanese fighters used as they swooped down on Oahu military bases on Dec. 7, 1941, catching the Pacific Fleet and the U.S. military off guard.

Gleeson, a board member of the proposed Ford Island Military Aviation Museum of the Pacific, is being paid by Disney to fly the Dec. 7 attack route for national and international news crews. It is all part of Monday's multimillion-dollar premiere on the flight deck of the nuclear carrier USS Stennis, sponsored by Disney to promote its $145 million blockbuster movie "Pearl Harbor."

"There were only two main routes the Japanese used when they attacked from the north," said Gleeson, who also served as a pilot in the Korean War.

"Initially, when I took Disney executives up several months ago, we took off just before 7 (a.m.)," Gleeson said, "to try to approximate the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. We flew the exact route of the attack on Pearl Harbor."

Gleeson, a World War II B-24 pilot, said his one-hour aerial circle-island tour includes locations of the Army's primitive radar stations in 1941 at Fort Shafter, Koko Head, Kaaawa, Opana Point near Sunset Beach, and Kawaeloa.

He also points out gun emplacements and the airstrips at Kaneohe, Dillingham Field, Haleiwa and Wheeler that were strafed.

By 7:45 a.m., just minutes before the bombs began falling on Battleship Row near Ford Island, Gleeson said, his aircraft buzzes over Pearl Harbor.

This week, Gleeson, 77, using an eight-passenger twin-engine Chieftain, has repeated the aerial tour for mainland television crews and news organizations. He also has taken crews from the History Channel and members of the Hawaii Visitors Bureau along the same route.

As part of Monday's premiere, Gleeson has arranged for six vintage aircraft to perform a flyby just before sunset, about 300 feet between the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Stennis -- whose flight deck will have been converted into an open-air theater for 2,000 -- and Ford Island.

Two of the aircraft -- a C-47 World War II troop and cargo craft and a Beech 18 -- are still being used in the state's interisland cargo business.

The others are an L-19 liaison aircraft used extensively in the Korean and Vietnam wars, two World War II Stearman trainers and a Russian YAK-52 from the Vietnam era.

Gleeson said that long before Disney envisioned an aircraft carrier premiere for its movies, members of his aviation museum had discussed the possibility of its being held on Ford Island, using several World War II-era hangars. Many of the hangars were in use on Dec. 7 and were again pressed into service for the movie in April 2000.

"We were talking about the possibility of a hangar dance," Gleeson said. "We discussed the possibility of a barbecue and bringing in antique cars, trucks and ambulances to create a World War II atmosphere."

By the time the group took their idea to the Pacific Fleet, Gleeson said, they found Disney had already approached the Navy with the carrier idea, and military officials put him in touch with the special-events coordinator for the company.

A longtime aviation enthusiast, Gleeson has developed programs for island youths to try to drum up interest in careers in aviation. His latest venture involves establishing a youth aviation camp in July at Camp Erdman in Mokuleia.

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‘Pearl Harbor’
will be a hit in
Japan, distributor says

Associated Press

TOKYO >> As promoters of the blockbuster "Pearl Harbor" prepared for its upcoming premiere in Hawaii, the movie's Japanese distributor said it was also expecting a big hit here -- despite the sensitive topic.

The content of the movie is not inflammatory to the Japanese, said Yoko Kishi, spokeswoman for the film's distributor, Buenavista International Japan. Kishi added that the film, to open in Japan in July, is not intended to make a political or social statement.

"We're confident that the film can appeal to a wide audience, from the young to the old," Kishi said today. "It's entertainment, a love story."

Promotional brochures have been out and its trailer shown at movie theaters in Japan since last summer. Kishi said the result has been curiosity, but no controversy.

The only Japanese element in the two-minute trailer is a flock of Japanese zero fighters flying low above children playing baseball in the fields that December morning. The movie's Japan debut is July 14.

Nearly 2,400 Americans died in the Japanese attack.

Young movie buffs here are excited about the graphics of the film, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Michael Bay -- the team that made the hit "Armaggedon."

The film has also caught the attention of those who are examining Japan's wartime role.

"Maybe it's just the title that sounds sensational, but I want to find out how Japan is portrayed in the movie," said Hiromi Yamasaki, a member of a support group for former sex wartime slaves.