Military | Page 3 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

November 17, 2017 by Peter T Young 6 Comments

Flagpole

Actually, this is a about a family that ended up in Kailua. We’ll get to the ‘flagpole’ portion of their adventures at the end of the summary. This is about Lloyd and Joanie Osborne; they married in 1938.

Lloyd was born in Newtonville, Massachusetts, on March 14, 1909; he graduated from Phillips-Exeter Academy and Yale University, where he was captain of the swimming team.

He led an all-star US swimming team on a Pacific and Japan tour in 1931, but passed up 1932 Olympic tryouts in order to enlist as a Naval Aviator, after earning his mechanical engineering degree.

Joan (Joanie) Dowsett Osborne, born July 26, 1916, was the daughter of Herbert and Laura Dowsett; she was a descendant of Gerrit Parmele Judd, a missionary physician in the Third Company of American Protestant missionaries to the Islands. Judd later resigned from the mission and became an advisor and translator to King Kamehameha III.

Joanie was a member of the Punahou School class of 1933, attended the Schools at Dobbs Ferry in Westchester, NY and Tufts University of Occupational Therapy.

Although Joanie was a swimmer from an early age, marriage and childrearing interrupted her swimming until her mid-fifties. It was as senior swimmers that inspired Joanie to join competitive swimming with Lloyd in the Masters Swim events.

In 1984, at the age of 75, Lloyd set two national records, the 200-meter butterfly in 4:51:77 and the 200-meter individual medley in 4:01:34. He has numerous other accolades in swimming (from the 1970s to 1990s.) His last, in 1992, was 1st Place in 400 freestyle (8:08:40;) he was 82.

He swam competitively, he told a reporter in 1985, because he wanted to stay healthy enough to make one particular financial transaction: “I’d like to write a check dated Jan. 2, 2000.” (He made it.)

During 14 years of competition, Joanie was listed in the US Masters National Top Ten Times in 174 events: ranking first in 53 events; second in 29; third in 20; and fourth in 22. She has held 28 pool event USMS National Records, one Long Distance National Record and four Master’s Age Group World Records.

Back to Lloyd’s aviation experience … After earning his wings in 1933 at Pensacola, Florida, Lloyd piloted landings and take offs from the world’s first aircraft carrier, the US Langley, a converted Navy oiler.

Following a stint in the engineering design department at Martin Aircraft, he joined Pan American Airways as a pilot, flying throughout the Caribbean and South America; one of his passengers was President Franklin D Roosevelt.

His WWII duty included command of an air control unit during amphibious operations at Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima, for which he earned two combat Bronze Star medals. He later served on the staff of Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet.

After WWII, a unique type of air service called ‘flight seeing’ came into being. On April 2, 1946, Osborne started Hawaiian Air Transport Service Ltd, “a deluxe charter and tour service.”

It provided non-scheduled service to all Territorial airports and provided special tourist sight-seeing flights to the Neighbor Islands, and charter services as required. (hawaii-gov)

After operating for about 4-years, Hans Mueller took over the certificate and expanded that operation into Hawaiian Air Tour Service (HATS,) a full-fledged flight-seeing operation. (Allen)

The accomplishment that Joanie is most proud of is not her swimming, but the role she played in establishing Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park in Kona. Joanie lived in Kailua-Kona in the 1950s. During this period, she served on the Governor’s commission to save historical sites. Through her efforts, and others, the park was eventually created.

On August 13, 1959, over a thousand people gathered near the Sears’ end for the grand opening of Ala Moana Center. Lloyd Osborne was there, he was the center’s first general manager.

OK, the flagpole …

The Osbornes had a house on Kailua Beach. Most folks who surf or walk the beach will recall a flagpole standing proud and tall near the edge of the beach. The surf spot “Flagpoles” is right off shore.

That was the home of Lloyd and Joanie Osborne and their family. On July 4, 1969, to honor both his nation and his state, and to salute other states and countries he had visited, Lloyd put up the 30-foot flagpole himself.

Lloyd died April 19, 2001 at the age of 92; Joanie, his wife of 63 years, died July 20, 2014, missing her 98th birthday by six days. (Lots of information here is from Advertiser, Star-Advertiser and Punahou.)

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USS Langley (CV 1)-1st Aircraft Carrier

Hawaiian Air Tour Service-planes

Long one-quarter front left side aerial view from above of two Hawaiian Air Tour Service (HATS) Cessna T-50 “Bamboo Bombers” in flight over Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, circa 1955. In the foreground is the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, with the Waikiki Theater behind; at far right is the Matson Moana Hotel. Believed to be the cover of a Hawaiian Air Tour Service (HATS) brochure.

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November 14, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Seagull

“It happens every Friday evening, almost without fail … Old Ed comes strolling along the beach to his favorite pier. Clutched in his bony hand is a bucket of shrimp.”

“Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly. Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds. As he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, ‘Thank you. Thank you.’”

“To the onlooker, rituals can look either very strange or very empty. They can seem altogether unimportant …. maybe even a lot of nonsense. …” (Swindoll)

Let’s look back …

Edward Vernon ‘Eddie’ Rickenbacker had first gained fame as a racecar driver from 1912-1917, racing in a number of events including the first Indianapolis 500. He even broke the land speed record, reaching 134 mph. (Nye)

When the war to end all wars broke out (WWI), “he became the nation’s ‘Ace of Aces’ as a military aviator despite the fact that he had joined the Army as a sergeant-driver on Gen. John J. Pershing’s staff.”

“He was named by Gen. William Mitchell to be chief engineering officer of the fledgling Army Air Corps. His transfer to actual combat flying – in which he shot down 22 German planes and four observation balloons – was complicated …”

“… not only by his being two years over the pilot age limit of 25, but also because he was neither a college man nor a ‘gentleman’ such as then made up the aristocratic fighter squadrons of the air service.” (NY Times)

After the war, he delved first into the automobile industry and then wound his way back to aviation, eventually becoming president of Eastern Air Lines.

“A self-made man whose formal education ended with the sixth grade, Rickenbacker was a driving leader. He put the stamp of his dominant personality on everything he touched.” (NY Times)

In 1942, the Army Air Force asked Rickenbacker to consult on operations in the Pacific theater. It was a secret mission touring air bases around the world, but also to deliver a secret message to General Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander of Allied forces in the Southeast Pacific Theater.

With a $1 a day salary, he set out for a tour of the Pacific. He first visited Hawai‘i en route to bases from Australia to Guadalcanal.

On October 20, Rickenbacker inspected air units stations on O‘ahu. Evidence of the Pearl Harbor attack were still present – bullet holes pockmarked hangars, sandbags surrounded public buildings and armed patrols enforced nightly blackouts. (Lewis)

From Hickam, their first stop would be Canton Island, an atoll in the Phoenix archipelago where Pan American had established a base in 1938.

The following are portions of a speech given by John Bartek. It is an account of the flight of Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker; Col. Hans Christian Adamson (Protocol Officer accompanying Rickenbacker); Capt. William T. Cherry, pilot; Lt. James C. Whittaker, co-pilot; Lt. John DeAngelis, navigator; Sgt. Frank Reynolds, radio operator; Pvt. John Bartek, flight engineer; and Sgt. Alex Kaczmarzyck, passenger returning to his unit after hospitalization.

“Well, anyway, as we approached the island we flew all night … as we approached the island we let down about an hour and a half ahead of time because we were on a secret mission. We just wanted to go in and locate the island without any interference.”

“Our time of arrival was overdue. In the meantime the navigator was beginning to look a little worried.”

“Oh, he said there was no problem. So then he called the island and he asked for lost plane procedure. But when he called about the lost plane procedure what took place then was the island called back and said we have had the equipment here for two weeks but we haven’t had time to set it up yet.”

“(W)e asked the island to fire anti-aircraft shells at 8,000 feet. We climbed to 8,000 feet to see whether we could see the burst at 8,000 feet. Well, we climbed to 8,000 feet and we didn’t see any burst for about a half an hour.”

“Captain Cherry then decided, well, the best we could do is we’ll fly around in what they call a square. You fly for maybe thirty minutes or forty-five minutes north, and you fly east, and you fly south, and then you fly west. We could look on each side of the plane to see whether we could see ships at sea or something down there.”

“Well, we flew the whole course and in the meantime we saw nothing out in the vast Pacific. We covered hundreds of miles and still nothing. I figured we would at least find somebody trying to get away from the war in some ship out there, some little sail boat or something, find the Japs or something, but there was nothing out there.”

“But we realized how big the ocean was.”

“So then Captain Cherry decided well, we’ve got to figure out a way to bring this plane in because we don’t have enough gas to go to the next island. … So we decided how we were going to ditch this plane.”

“Anyway, Captain Cherry was telling Rickenbacker how he would like to bring the plane in. Now no B-17 before had ever been brought in without cracking up in two and losing half of the crew.”

“I think first now we are coming in at a hundred miles an hour and when you are [up] a hundred feet or so a little bit everything looks still pretty quiet but as you get lower to the surface you realize that the waves are pretty high. We had about ten to fifteen foot waves out there and we were coming between the swells.”

“When we come between the swells I looked at Captain Cherry. He was in complete command of that ship. He knew exactly where he was going to put that plane. So I was pretty confident even coming in. I wasn’t scared, I was very confident. None of the men seemed to be scared of anything. I guess they had confidence in Cherry, too.”

“It suddenly started to flutter a little bit and in the meantime Captain Cherry hollered “cut.” When he hollered cut Cherry put the tail down in the water and that put a drag on the plane and then the plane flopped right down. It had flopped down but it stopped suddenly.” (All survived the crash.)

“When we come in and stopped the first thing I did I let one life raft out … In the meantime the other fellows were in the back of the plane they let the third raft down, but they had to do that by themselves. I got up on a fuselage and I got out to the wing and I saw the raft out there and the colonel and Rickenbacker was up there atop the fuselage.”

“(Cherry) was in the plane to see whether there was any food around so when we get to floating out there we’ve got something to eat. He come out with three oranges. Now DeAngelis who was in the raft in the back of the plane come out with one orange. So we had four oranges.”

“The first thing we did, we took inventory and the main thing is we didn’t have water, we didn’t have any food. We had a fishing line but that was sort of rotted. We had to double, triple up on that. We had about four fish hooks that weren’t too big. You couldn’t catch a big fish with it and we had no bait.”

“So the second day comes around we had an eighth of an orange and Rickenbacker was chosen to divide that orange. When I say an eighth of an orange I don’t think you’ve got scales in this whole university that could measure an eighth of an orange as accurate as he did.”

“An eighth of an orange with us hungry men all looking at that we made sure we got our eighth of an orange. No more and no less. One of the fellows says while we are eating the orange, he said don’t eat the peels. While thinking about that over a little bit, I said ‘I never heard of a man dying of eating orange peels but they do die of starvation.’”

“So the third day went on and we had another eighth of an orange and I figured today should be the day that the air force would be out to look for us because the search party had to go from Hawai‘i to Canton Island and then they had to get themselves together, oriented and then they would go search”.

“Now what happens is the nights are very cold. The nights are black, when I say black you don’t see anything. You can’t see your eyeball in front of you. I mean that’s how dark it is, you don’t see the other rafts. Plus on top of that it is cold and the salt spray gets on your face and gets on your eyes, and in the meantime we were thirsty, dying of thirst.”

“We didn’t have much to say because Eddie Rickenbacker told us we shouldn’t talk too much, we had to save the saliva in our mouth because when we dry it that would be the end. So the sixth day came along we had sighted nothing. No planes, no nothing but sharks.” (John Bartek)

“Eight days out, their rations were long gone or destroyed by the salt water. It would take a miracle to sustain them. And a miracle occurred. In Captain Eddie’s own words, “Cherry,” that was the B-17 pilot, Captain William Cherry, “read the service that afternoon, and we finished with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise. “

“There was some talk, but it tapered off in the oppressive heat. With my hat pulled down over my yes to keep out some o the glare, I dozed off.” Now this is still Captain Rickenbacker talking … “

“‘Something landed on my head. I knew that it was a sea gull. I don’t know how I knew, I just knew. Everyone else knew too. No one said a word, but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head, I could see the expression on their faces. They were staring at that gull. The gull meant food … if I could catch it.’”

“Captain Eddie caught the gull. Its flesh was eaten. Its intestines were used for bait to catch fish. The survivors were sustained and their hopes renewed because a lone sea gull, uncharacteristically hundreds of miles from land, offered itself as a sacrifice.”

For 24 days, they were drifting; Navy pilots rescued the members of the crew on November 13, 1942, off the coast of Nukufetau near Samoa. The men were suffering from exposure, dehydration, and starvation. Rickenbacker completed his assignment and delivered his message to MacArthur, which has never been made public.

“You know that Captain Eddie made it. And you also know … that he never forgot. Because every Friday evening, about sunset … on a lonely stretch along the eastern Florida seacoast … . you could see an old man walking … white-haired, bushy-eyebrowed, slightly bent.”

“His bucket filled with shrimp was to feed the gulls …. to remember that one which, on a day long past, gave itself without a struggle … like manna in the wilderness.” (Harvey)

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November 11, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month

World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” – officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France.

However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany, went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words:
“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…”

The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words:
“Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and”

“Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and”

“Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.”

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day.”

Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen in the Nation’s history; and later, American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting in its place the word “Veterans.”

With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

Later that same year, on October 8th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first “Veterans Day Proclamation” which stated:

“In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans’ organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose.”

“Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans’ Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible.”

The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971. It was quite apparent that the commemoration of this day was a matter of historic and patriotic significance to a great number of our citizens, and so on September 20th, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 (89 Stat. 479), which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978.

This action supported the desires of the overwhelming majority of state legislatures, all major veterans service organizations and the American people.

Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day:

Today, Veterans Day, is a celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

To all who served, Thank You.

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October 25, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kemo‘o Farm

At the ahupua‘a of Kamananui at Wahiawa are the remains of what McAllister describes as “the longest irrigation ditch of which there is any memory” among modern Hawaiians.

Rice cultivation, extension of the railroad system toward Waialua and the development of commercial sugarcane cultivation with the rise of the Waialua Agricultural Company (later named the Waialua Sugar Company) dramatically altered the landscape of Kamananui Ahupua‘a during the last two decades of the nineteenth century.

Kemo‘o is an ili (land division smaller than an ahupua‘a) of Kamananui. These lands were further modified during the early twentieth century through the development of a military post (Schofield Barracks,) sugar cane cultivation (Kemo‘o Land Company,) a piggery and dairy operation (Kemo‘o Farm) and the pineapple industry with its plantation settlements (Kemo‘o Camp) further re-shaped the landscape surrounding the project area. (Cultural Surveys)

Kemo’o Land Company, Ltd was started in 1910 by ED Tenney, Charles H Atherton, WW Goodale, TH Petrie and JR Gait “to carry on the business of agriculture, manufacturing and mercantile pursuits (generally, operation of mills, sugar works, irrigation systems and railroads.) (Hawaiian Star, May 24, 1907)

Kemo‘o Camp was housing for pineapple workers; it opened sometime before 1920 for Hawaiian Pineapple workers and their families. It closed when the plantation built new homes in Whitmore Village. (Star Bulletin)

In 1914, Percy Martyn Pond started the Kemo‘o Farm for the “conservation of table refuse from Schofield Barracks by the production of pork and eggs.” (Nellist)

“The Kemo‘o farm, located near Schofield Barracks, Oahu, has a swine herd numbering 1,460 animals, 250 of which are brood sows of high grade and 10 are pure-bred Duroc-Jersey and Berkshire boars. Each sow on this farm farrows, on the average, 3 litters in two years and raises 5 or 6 pigs per annum.”

“Eighty cans containing about 300 pounds of garbage each are daily hauled from the military posts to the Kemo’o farm. In 1915 the Kemo‘o farm sold 365 garbage-fed hogs … In 1918 the sales increased to 1,686 head …”

“Kemo‘o farm, where swine raising constitutes the main and a highly specialized line of farming, with dairying and poultry raising ranking next in importance.” (CTAHR, 1923)

In 1920, a young soldier named Leo B Rodby, a newcomer to Hawai‘i, took a part-time job at the farm. In 1930, he bought the controlling interest in the corporation. A year later, he and his wife, Carita Fisher Rodby, had a son named Richard H (Dick) Rodby.

The farm was discontinued in 1934. The next year, a dining room overlooking the lake was opened, prompting long lines of soldiers eager for one of their sizzling steaks. During World War II, even the generals stood in line.

Dick graduated from Leilehua High School in 1948. After graduation, he served in the army and had his basic training at Schofield.

From there he attended Woodbury College in Los Angeles to become an accountant. After graduating from Woodbury Business College and San Francisco Hotel and Restaurant College, he went to work at the Santa Barbara Biltmore Hotel.

He was first in the accounting department, but then transferred into Food and Beverage and worked his way up the ladder becoming Executive Assistant General Manager for the property.

In 1953, Leo passed away. His mother called and said he was needed back home to run Kemo‘o Farm Restaurant. Dick became the president of Kemo‘o Farm in 1958. (Kemo‘o Pub)

In 1953, From Here to Eternity came out; it is about the peacetime Army on O‘ahu and culminating with the Japanese surprise attack (it’s one of only two Pacific movies to win Academy Awards for Best Picture (the other film is Mutiny on the Bounty in 1935.)

The movie used the restaurant (named Choy’s in the novel and film – after Kemo‘o’s chef;) where the fight scene takes place in the movie and where the novel opens.

Dick was delivered by Dr Arthur Davis who was the Waialua Plantation doctor and father to Charles KL and Francis Davis. He knew Charles KL Davis well from growing up in Waialua.

When Davis returned from the mainland they got together which led to nearly a 12 year run at Kemo’o Farm of music, fun and a whole new venue for Kemo’o Farm.

Big Wednesday buffet lunch shows were selling out weeks in advance of up to 150-180 people per show, weekend nights were packed. Dad started adding guests to the show with Charles with all the local Hawaiian entertainers. (Borthwick)

The family sold Kemo‘o Farm in 1992 and concentrated on the Happy Cakes until 2002 when they sold the company to Owen O’Callaghan.

Today, there are three different bars to choose from at the Kemo’o Farms Pub and Grill: The Pub, Lakeside Lanai or The Barn. (Lots of information here is from Borthwick, Happy Cake, Star Advertiser and Washington Post.)

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September 27, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Yuimaaru

Yuimaaru is seen when communities support one another, especially in times of need. It is a reminder for all of us to live yuimaaru, in both small and big endeavors and decisions. (Haworth)

Uchinanchu is the term used by Okinawan immigrants and their descendants in Hawai‘i to identify themselves as an ethnic group distinct from the Naichi of Japan’s four main islands. Seven such were …

… Ryoshin Agena (native of Uruma City,) Yasuo Uezu (native of Uruma City,) Shinei Shimabukuro (native of Uruma City,) Yoshio Yamashiro (native of Uruma City,) Genbi Tonaki (native of Nanjo City,) Ushikichi Nakama (native of Itoman City) and Shohei Miyazato (native of the town of Motobu)

They are also referred to as the ‘seven heroes’ – a monument and musical, Umi Kara Buta ga Yatte Kita (Pigs from the Sea,) commemorate them.

Uruma City Mayor Toshio Shimabukuro commented, “We would like to show the bond between Hawai‘i and Uchinanchu to future generations through the monument and the musical performance.” (Ryukyu Shimpo)

Okinawa is located approximately 350 miles south of mainland Japan. It is the largest island in the Ryukyu Island chain, the southernmost prefecture of the then-Japanese Empire.

In WWII, the Pacific campaign started December 7, 1941 after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The campaign crossed all over the Pacific; the Japanese initially had the upper hand in the air and on sea and land.

After almost 4 years of naval, air, and land battles the tide had turned and by March 1945 the campaign had nearly reached its culminating point with American domination of the sea and air. It was now just Japanese territory that needed to be seized before the Japanese would admit defeat.

In a time when an invasion of mainland Japan was necessary to end the war, Okinawa was an essential preparation ground and jumping-off point for the impending invasion. (SSgt Frame)

The bombardment of Okinawa commenced on March 23, 1945 and lasted until the morning of the land invasion (codenamed Operation Iceberg) on April 1.

On June 23, 1945, all major combat operations ended on the island of Okinawa. Over the 3-month battle more than 8- million artillery and mortar rounds were fired, the equivalent of more than 1-round per second.

More than 12,000-American servicemembers were killed and more than 38,000-wounded or missing. The Japanese military lost more than 110,000, but the greatest loss of life by the Okinawan people.

Anywhere from 40,000 to 150,000 of the Okinawans perished during the battle. Even with all the carnage, it was at Okinawa that the largest number of Japanese soldiers were taken prisoner (more than 7,000 – an unprecedented number). (SSgt Frame)

“The ravages of the Pacific War (of WWII) brought disaster and catastrophic damage to the island of Okinawa. Under these harsh conditions, the people of the island were forced to eke out a living, even as they struggled to find food amidst the scorched landscape.”

“An indispensable source of food, Okinawa contained over 100,000 pigs in the prewar period. After the war, this number had plummeted to just 7,731 (according to the Ryukyu Government’s 1946 records), leaving Okinawa in a dire situation.” (Monument Text)

The above named seven Uchinanchu (Okinawan immigrants) stepped forward to help those from their homeland. They raised over $47,000 from Hawai‘i’s Uchinanchu community, purchased 550 pigs in Oregon and took them to Okinawa after World War II.

The ship that they contracted for the journey was called the USS John Owen; it departed for Okinawa on August 31, 1948, and the voyage became a life and death struggle as the ship was assaulted by raging storms and battered by tall waves.

The journey was further delayed by the need to take a roundabout route in order to avoid sea mines left over from the war. By the 3 week mark, the passenger’s water supply and the feed for the pigs was almost completely depleted.

After 28 grueling days at sea, the passengers finally caught sight of the Okinawan islands on September 27. The Owen made landfall on White Beach, in the Katsuren Heshikiya region of Uruma City. (Okinawa-jp)

These pigs helped revive the Okinawan pig farming industry and were a source of nourishment for the Okinawan people, who were starving in the aftermath of the war.

The pigs, which are easy to breed because of their high fertility rate, are believed to have helped ward off starvation and provided a steady food source for many Okinawans. (Japan Times)

This movement which began in Hawai‘i eventually spread to the American mainland and South America, and in time aid began to pour into Okinawa from all across the globe. (Okinawa-jp)

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