Local historian John Bond, who's very persistent in his quest to preserve the old Marine Corps Air Station 'Ewa, said his group, "Save 'Ewa Field," is joining forces with the National Park Service in Hawai'i to apply for an American Battlefield Protection Program grant.

The American Battlefield Protection Program promotes the preservation of "significant historic battlefields associated with wars on American soil," according to a National Park Service Web site explaining the program.

Weedy and abandoned 'Ewa Field, attacked before Pearl Harbor, would seem to fit the bill.

At the time of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack, there were nearly 50 aircraft on the ground at 'Ewa Field. Most were destroyed in strafing passes by the Japanese, and four Marines were killed.

"It is incredibly important. There is no doubt about the integrity of that site," said Daniel Martinez, chief historian for the USS Arizona Memorial and larger World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument.

Many confuse the Marine Corps air station with the separate but nearby airfield at Barbers Point. 'Ewa Field lies just off Geiger Road where it jogs around the end of the old Marine Corps runway to become Roosevelt Road.

The purpose of the battlefield grant program is to provide seed money for projects that lead directly to the identification, preservation and interpretation of battlefield land and/or historic sites associated with battlefields.

Since 1990, the battlefield program has helped protect and enhance more than 100 battlefields by co-sponsoring 412 projects in 41 states and territories, according to the National Park Service.

Individual project funding has ranged from $5,000 to more than $80,000.

Bond said a grant would start the process of accurately identifying the exact battlefield coordinates to be put into a Geographic Information System database for further analysis by the National Park Service.

Nearby Fort Barrette in Kapolei also is eligible for a grant award, Bond said, because it was the site of a Japanese strafing attack on Dec. 7, 1941, and a U.S. soldier was killed.

Of course, there are not-so-small issues to overcome in terms of land ownership.

Fort Barrette is overseen by the city's Department of Parks and Recreation. The Navy, meanwhile, had come up with a plan to transfer key parts of 'Ewa Field to Texas-based developer Hunt Cos.

"We will also be meeting with the site land owners, HCDA (Hawai'i Community Development Authority) and other partners interested in historic preservation, which could lead to these two sites becoming eventually recognized as national parks, national monuments and national landmarks," Bond said.