The ruins of the air administration building are surrounded by thick foliage and vegetation, and aside from our footfalls which echo in the empty halls, there are no other sounds as we gingerly pick our way into the building which used to be the headquarters for the Japanese Navy’s 1st Air Fleet.
There is something uncanny yet exciting about exploring a building that has been a mute witness while playing a vital role in a bloody battle that took place six decades ago. It is as if we were invading someone’s privacy and committing a sin while we stepped on the floors and touched the skeleton of a building that had withstood over 60 years of exposure to the elements.
Slowly picking our way up to the second floor where there are more gaping holes on the floors and the roof, our guide tells us that the building was part of the Central Pacific Area Fleet of Japan.
It’s hard to imagine that such an innocent looking building, or what’s left of it, was used as a staging area to transport aircraft to Pacific battle areas.
The building is just one of the ruins on Tinian that you have to visit.
Take time to visit the North Field, the three airstrips, the dilapidated air operations building, which is now home to hundreds of spiders and other insects, the air raid shelters, the bunkers at Invasion Beach, the Taga House, the atomic bomb pit where the B-29 Enola Gay was towed and launched on Aug. 5, 1945, and the other pit where “Fat Man” was loaded before being dropped on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945.
Tinian is strewn with World War II relics, each with volumes of stories to tell to visitors. A day is not enough to immerse yourself in the rich historical sites of this island.
