Military | Page 3 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

May 23, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Blackouts Before the Bombing

“From 1931 onward, Japan had been increasing aggressive in Asia. They had gone to war and taken over Manchuria, then they went to war openly with China in 1937, and (later) took over French IndoChina.” (Brown)

The threat of war was increasing. “By the late 1930s Schofield Barracks was the largest army base in the country, which is astonishing, and Pearl harbor was this huge naval base.” (Brown)

The Honolulu District of the US Army Corps of Engineers was involved with intense planning and vast preparations for what was an increasing possibility of a war in the Pacific. (Fitzgerald)

The possibility of a Japanese attack was real.

“Notwithstanding the seeming ‘normality’ of the prewar years, both military and civil authorities were taking steps to prepare for possible conflict”.

“Navy fleet exercises as early as 1938 simulated attacks on US defensive positions. On March 29, 1938, Hilo was the object of an exercise mounted by joint Army and Navy operations.”

“On May 23, 1940, the territory of Hawaii conducted its first island-wide ‘blackout’ requiring residences and business to shut off or shield their lights, cars to stay off the roads, and towns and cities to cut the power to streetlights.” (Chapman)

“Army Planes to Drop Leaflets On Blackout … Switching the entire territory into total darkness on the night of May 23 as part of maneuvers of the Hawaiian Department of the army is being prepared for on a wide as well as intensive scale. The smallest detail will not be spared to make this first territory-wide blackout a complete success.”

“For many weeks military officials have been working with the cooperation of civilian committeemen so that the blackout of the islands will be staged with the utmost precision and with the least possible inconvenience.”

“Army authorities announced that, in the effort to convey the information to all possible persons on all the islands, army planes will leave Hickam field on May 21 and shower the whole territory with blackout leaflets.”

“The message will be in English, Japanese, Chinese and Filipino and will serve as a reminder that cooperation of every one in the territory is imperative.”

“The ‘bombardment’ with blackout notices will be over Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, Molokai and Lanai. On Oahu, similar notices are being sent out through the mails and by house to house distribution.”

“Separated island residents will also receive these notices by mail. Planes will drop about 50,000 leaflets on out-islands. About 200,000 leaflets in all will be distributed.”

“Through the circulars the entire territory will be sent the message: ‘Blackout enemy planes will simulate attack on your island, Thursday night, May 23rd, 1940, sometime between 8:30 and 9 pm.’”

“‘When warning bells are rung or sirens are, sounded, IMMEDIATELY put out all lights, inside and outside. Turn off all signs. Don’t use flashlights, matches, etc. Blackout completely.”

“‘While the raid is only make-believes, do your part in this rehearsal for an event we hope will never come. Outblack the last blackout.’” (Nippu Jiji, May 8, 1940)

“The territory conducted a second island-wide blackout on May 20, 1941 … Yet another blackout exercise occurred on August 23.” (Chapman)

Then, it happened … Shortly before 8 am, December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft from six aircraft carriers struck the Pacific Fleet as it lay in port at Pearl Harbor and other sites on O‘ahu.

According to plans developed over a decade earlier, martial law was imposed on Hawai‘i the same day of the bombing December 7, 1941. (Tanigawa)

“General Order 16 prescribed the painting of automobile headlights for night travel. It prescribed that the headlights be painted with black center and the tail lights be painted entirely blue.”

“The requirement that automobile headlights be painted might seem silly at a time when a war was going on but I can certify that it was a very serious matter. In operating a car in blackout it was imperative that each driver know which way the other was going.”

“Until it was satisfactorily regulated, it was like being blindfolded during a battle royal. It was next to impossible to proceed faster than a snail’s pace and even this was at great peril.”

“The color of the required painting was changed a number of times in an effort to satisfy drivers and also pedestrians. The latter complained bitterly that they had no protection against drivers who could not see them, and that they had to ‘run for it’ at all times and could not tell which way the automobile was moving.”

“On their side, the drivers complained that pedestrians loomed up in front of them at the most unexpected times and places. The lens color finally adopted was dull red which could be seen by drivers and pedestrians, if they concentrated on it and could not be seen by aircraft.” (Maj Gen Thomas H Green)

Beginning in July 1942 the powers of government were gradually restored to civilian authority, but some degree of martial law continued.

On February 8, 1943, power was restored to the Governor, the courts and the legislature. The commanding general proclaimed, “Full jurisdiction and authority are hereby relinquished by the Commanding General to the Governor and other officers of the Territory of Hawaiʻi”. (Anthony)

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Blackout Notice-May 23, 1940

Practice Blackout Notice-BishopMuseum-May 1941

April 27, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Syngman Rhee

The roots of the Korean War can be traced back to before the Second World War. Korea had been occupied by the Japanese empire since 1895 and was left in a state of limbo when Japan was defeated in the Second World War.

During World War II, the US and the USSR agreed to divide the Japanese colony of the Korean peninsula into two parts along the 38th parallel north circle of latitude, with the North controlled by the USSR and the South by the US.

“The Asian country was eventually split in two – with the Soviets occupying the north of the ‘38th parallel north’ – a line of latitude on maps – and the south controlled by a US military administration.”

“In the North, a Stalinist regime was installed under client Kim Il-sung – the grandfather of Kim Jong-un – and a powerful North Korean People’s Army was created which was equipped with Russian tanks and artillery.” (The Sun)

In the South (the Republic of Korea), Syngman Rhee was elected as its president. (World Peace Foundation)

USSR and the newly communist People’s Republic of China (PRC) supported an attempted invasion. (World Peace Foundation)

Citing concerns of a potential global spread of Communism, the US requested and received the approval of the UN Security Council (during a Soviet boycott) to militarily intervene.

North Korea invaded the South on June 25th, 1950, using its Soviet-supplied armament to easily defeat the lightly armed South Korean Army. (World Peace Foundation)

“North Koreans advanced through the country rapidly, even after American troops were drafted in from bases in Japan, and the war seemed all but over.”

“Then in September General MacArthur landed two divisions in the enemy’s rear and North Korea was forced to flee amid heavy aerial bombardment.”

“The United Nations looked on the verge of victory but the tide was turned again when China entered the war.”

“The Chinese sent 200,000 troops to North Korea in October 1950 and forced the UN forces to withdraw back to the 38th parallel after decisively winning the Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River.”

“The last two years became a war of attrition on the ground, but a fierce battle raged in the skies above Korea.” (The Sun)

“This war pitted North Korea and China which were backed with arms by the Soviet Union against South Korea and the UN. The UN force included 21 different countries, with just under 600,000 troops from South Korea and half that number from the US”. (The Sun)

“The Korean nationalists split into two warring camps – Communists and anti-Communists. The Communists split into several factions and fought amongst themselves.”

“Likewise, the anti-Communists split into numerous factions. Korean Communists killed anti-Communist Koreans and Japanese collaborators.”

“Anti-Communist Koreans killed Communists and Japanese collaborators. Japanese collaborators killed both Korean Communists and anti-Communist Koreans. (Kim Young Sik)

In July 1951, President Truman and his new military commanders started peace talks at Panmunjom. Still, the fighting continued along the 38th parallel as negotiations stalled.

Both sides were willing to accept a ceasefire that maintained the 38th parallel boundary, but they could not agree on whether prisoners of war should be forcibly “repatriated.” (The Chinese and the North Koreans said yes; the United States said no.)

Finally, after more than two years of negotiations, the adversaries signed an armistice on July 27, 1953. The agreement allowed the POWs to stay where they liked; drew a new boundary near the 38th parallel that gave South Korea an extra 1,500 square miles of territory; and created a 2-mile-wide “demilitarized zone” that still exists today.

The Korean War was relatively short but exceptionally bloody. Nearly 5 million people died. More than half of these–about 10 percent of Korea’s prewar population–were civilians. (This rate of civilian casualties was higher than World War II’s and Vietnam’s.) Almost 40,000 Americans died in action in Korea, and more than 100,000 were wounded. (history-com)

“The first president of the newly-formed Republic of Korea, Syngman Rhee, had an impressive background from the perspective of both the Americans, who had ruled the southern half of the peninsula for three years before its establishment, and the Korean citizenry. “

“‘Few heads in international politics have been battered longer or harder than his,’’ an advisor, Robert Oliver, wrote in a biography, ‘The Truth about Korea,’ which came out in 1951.”

“‘During a political career that began in 1894, Dr. Rhee has spent seven years in prison, seven months under daily torture, and forty-one years in exile with a price on his head.’”

“‘He has directed a revolution, served as president of the world’s longest-lived government-in-exile, has knocked vainly at the portals of international conferences, and finally shepherded his cause to success ― only to see his nation torn asunder by a communist invasion.’’”

“But, he is not remembered fondly by Koreans today. That is in part because, historically, the separation of Korea into two rival halves is something of an aberration.”

“‘The future ‘father’ of a unified Korea, if there is one, is more likely to be much better remembered). It is also in part because his administration presided with a heavy hand over a poor and corrupt society which changed little under his watch.”

“Given this, his departure from office was fitting. Rhee was effectively run out of town by student protestors after a rigged election, a humiliating end followed nine months later by a military coup.”

“In the early evening of March 15, 1960, 1,000 residents gathered in front of the opposition Democratic Party building in the southern city of Masan. The police started shooting and protestors responded by throwing rocks.”

“Students at Korea University in Seoul, one of whom was the current president, Lee Myung-bak, took to the streets and were set upon by police and thugs. On April 19, when they tried to march on Gyeong Mu Dae the presidential residence (later renamed Cheong Wa Dae), calling on Rhee to resign, police opened fire. One hundred and twenty-five were killed.” (Korean Times)

With the intervention of the US, Rhee resigned on April 27, 1960, and went into exile in Hawaii. He died in Honolulu on July 19, 1965, at the age of 90.

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Syngman Rhee

April 11, 2018 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

‘Upolu

In 1779, Captain Cook explored the North Kohala area and noted: “The country, as far as the eye could reach, seemed fruitful and well inhabited … (3 to 4-miles inland, plantations of taro and potatoes and wauke are) neatly set out in rows.”

“The walls that separate them are made of the loose burnt stone, which are got in clearing the ground; and being entirely concealed by sugar-canes planted close on each side, make the most beautiful fences that can be conceived …” (Cook Journal)

“The district of Kohala is the northernmost land area of the island of Hawaii. ‘Upolu Point, its northwesterly projection, fronts boldly out into Alanuihaha Channel toward the southeastern coast of Maui, and is the nearest point of communication between the two islands.”

“To the south, along Hawai‘i’s western coast, lies Kona; to the east the rough coast of Hāmākua District unprotected from the northerly winds and sea.” (Handy & Pukui)

“Kohala was the chiefdom of Kamehameha the Great, and from this feudal seat he gradually extended his power to embrace the whole of the island, eventually, gaining the suzerainty of all the Hawaiian Islands.”

“’Upolu, which is the old name of the valley in Tahiti now called Papeno‘o; likewise the old name of the island of Taha‘a, northwest of Tahiti, and the present name of the chief island of the Samoan group.” (Handy & Pukui)

Oral traditions trace the origin of Hawaiian luakini temple construction to the high priest Pā‘ao, who arrived in the islands in about the thirteenth century. He introduced several changes to Hawaiian religious practices that affected temple construction, priestly ritual, and worship practices.

“Pā‘ao is said to have made his first landfall in the district of Puna, Hawaii, where he landed and built a Heiau (temple) for his god and called it Waha‘ula.”

“From Puna Pā‘ao coasted along the shores of the Hilo and Hāmākua districts, and landed again in the district of Kohala, on a land called Pu‘uepa, near the north-west point of the island, whose name, ‘Lae Upolu,’ was very probably bestowed upon it by Pā‘ao or his immediate descendants in memory of their native land.” (Fornander)

“In this district of Hawaii Pā‘ao finally and permanently settled. Here are shown the place where he lived, the land that he cultivated, and at Pu‘uepa are still the ruins of the Heiau of Mo‘okini, which he built and where he officiated.”

Mo‘okini temple was last active as a war temple for Kamehameha I in the last two decades of the 18th century. It is said to have housed the Kamehameha family war god, Ku-ka-‘ili-moku, and this feathered god transferred to Pu‘ukohola Heiau, in 1791, when Kamehameha built this new war temple to assure his conquest of all the Hawaiian Islands.

According to Stokes, Mo‘okini Heiau was said to have been built from stones brought from Pololu Valley. It was believed that the stones were passed hand-to-hand by men standing in a line spanning the 15-mile distance from the valley.

“About 2,000 feet west of Mo‘okini Heiau and near the ocean is the birthplace of Kamehameha the Great. At the time of his birth, ca. 1753, the site was occupied by one of the thatched housing complexes of Alapa‘i-nui-a-Kauaua, ruling chief of the Island of Hawai’i.”

“The birth itself took place late at night within d one of the large thatched houses reserved for royal women. The named stone Pohaku-hanau-ali‘i may have been his mother’s couch inside the house.”

“Alapa‘i’s housing complex would have included a number of thatched houses as well as the canoe landing ‘harbor’ along the shore. The complex, with ‘harbor’ was called by the place name of Kapakaj, within the larger Hawaiian land division (an ahupua‘a) called Kokoiki.” (NPS)

By the time of contact, numerous coastal villages and extensive dryland agricultural systems were in place in North Kohala. This farming system lasted for several centuries and provided taro and sweet potato (the food staples of the time) to the growing population.

When that ended in the 1800s, it was followed several decades later with the commercial production of sugarcane that lasted for over 100‐years. Sugar production stopped in Kohala in 1975.

On June 25, 1927, an Executive Order set aside nearly 38-acres of the property for an airplane landing field for the US Air Service to be under the management and control of the War Department. In 1933, the Army named it Suiter Field, in honor of 1st Lieutenant Wilbur C Suiter who was killed in action serving in 135th Aero Squadron.

Suiter Field was first licensed in 1928. It was also alternatively referred to as Upolu Point Military Reservation, Upolu Landing Field, Upolu Airplane Landing Field and Upolu Airport.

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Kamehameha Birth Site

Mookini Heiau

Upolu Point Field, Hawaii, February 3, 1929

Upolu Point Landing Field-hawaii-gov)-1933

Upolu Airport-(hawaii-gov)-September 20, 1944

Upolu Air Field-(hawaii-gov)-August 13, 1945

Upolu Point-(hawaii-gov)-1955

Upolu Airport-(hawaii-gov)-May 9, 1973

Upolu_Point-(hawaii-gov)-October 24, 1973

April 1, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Torpedoed

The world was entering war. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to Austria-Hungary’s throne, and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated on June 28, 1914.

Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Then, Germany, Russia, France and United Kingdom entered the fray; US President Woodrow Wilson announced the US would remain neutral.

US neutrality lasted until April 1, 1917, when the armed merchant ship Aztec was sunk off the northwest coast of France by U-boat 46 under the command of Leo Hillebrand.

“There are five Hawaiian boys thought to have been killed along with 16 Americans when the American steamer the Aztec was sunk.”

“This ship was sunk outside of the seas of France by the German submarine without being given prior time for the captain and his sailors to prepare themselves on the previous Sabbath.”

“Amongst the Americans who are thought to have died are some sailors of the navy which the government placed aboard the ship …. These are the first sailors of the navy to become victims of the Prussians …”

The Hawaiian boys killed on the Aztec by the Germans were: Julian R Macomber, Honolulu; Charles Pinapolo, Honolulu; Ekila Kaoki, Hawai‘i Island; Tato Davis, Hawai‘i Island and HK Price, Hawai‘i Island. (Aloha Aina, April 6, 1917)

Charles Nakao was one of the survivors – he wrote a letter that was published in the Star Bulletin, May 9, 1917. The text of that follows:

“Brooklyn, New York, April 26, 1917. … Dear Sir: I, Chas. Nakao, was one of the members of the crew of the S. S. Aztec which was the first American vessel armed with two three-inch guns.”

“Number of crew was 49, including 12 navy gunners and an officer of the U. S. S. Dolphin. We sailed from New York March 18, 1917, and were torpedoed by a submarine April 1, 1917, Sunday night, at 9:30 o’clock, off the coast of France.”

“It was very stormy weather, the seas were about 30 feet in height and the current from English channel was running about 7 miles an hour. “It were dark hail storm and were impossible to launch any lifeboat over the weather side.”

“Seven of the crew got excited and try to launch the boat No. 2, which were on the weather side they were all smashed between the life boat and the ship side one of the boys were from Honolulu, Ekela Kaohi, the other were Chinese boy from Puna Pahoa Henry Look.”

“No. 3 boat there were Hail Rice of Honolulu, Chas. Pumoku, Julian Makama of Honolulu, one from Tahiti Islands, John Davis. I were on board the No. 1 boat which I suppose to be the gunners’ boat.”

“There were 19 of the crew on board. The vessel had sunk within 15 minutes it took 9 minutes because we were away from the ship side.”

“After we were probably about 100 yards away some one gave four long blasts. Nobody knows how it happened. After four hours and a half in lifeboats on the high seas and hail storms and rain and darkness we were sighted by a French patrol boat.”

“We had signaled to the boat with flashlights. They got full speed away from us. The second one had passed by and we lighted a torch and they came and picked us up.”

“The temperature of the water was 40 degrees and I didn’t have any shoes or hat on. I was frozen and could hardly speak for about two hours after we got picked up.”

“It was 1:30 o’clock in the early Monday morning and we had looked around for about 18 hours for the other boat. There were know sign whatsoever.”

“So we landed at Brest, France, the American consul came and met us at the dock and over 6 hundred Frenchmen were treated fine.”

“I got warm and were send to Brest hospital. From Brest we were send to Bourdeaux, France, about 48 hours ride train.”

“We got on board the S. S. La Tourine, the French passenger boat from Bourdeaux, and we got back to New York safe.”

“I remain yours truly, CHAS. NAKAO, Waiakea, Hilo, Hawaii.”

“If any of boys’ family wants to get any information about the clothes or anything else please sent me your address and I will try my best to send it over. This is my address: Chas. Nakao, 324-32th street, Brooklyn, New York.”

“P. S.—Thanking our Queen for her kindly remembrance to us boys off the ill-fated S. S. Aztec. Yours sincerely, CN” (Charles Nakao, and summarized in the Kuokoa of Iune 1, 1917)

“Colonel ʻIaukea had told Lili‘uokalani of the sinking of the Aztec, resulting in the death of five Hawaiian sailors, and asked her if on that account she would like to raise the American flag over her home.”

“She replied, most emphatically: ‘Yes. Have you a flag?’ When he said, ‘No’ an army officer who happened to be present offered to procure one. On its arrival the Queen went into the yard to watch the ceremony of raising the Stars and Stripes for the first time over Washington Place.” (Kihapi‘ilani; Ola o Hawaii, June 21, 1917)

“For the first time in its long and picturesque history, Washington Place, home of Queen Liliʻuokalani, was decorated today with an American flag.”

“It was the occasion of the visit of the legislators to pay their respects to the aged queen and in view of the extraordinary crisis in international affairs and the prospect of patriotic war action by congress …”

“… the queen allowed the flag to be flown in honor of the government which years ago was responsible for her loss of a monarchy.” (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 3, 1917) (Reportedly, the American flag continued to fly over Washington Place.)

On April 2, 1917, President Wilson appeared before Congress to deliver his historic war message and asked for a declaration of war against Germany.

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SS Aztec

Aztec-torpedoed-1917

Liliuokalani_outside_Washington_Place_with_Captain_Nowlein

Exterior_of_Washington_Place_with_guards,_old_photograph

Washington_Place,_Honolulu,_Hawaii,_1899

March 28, 2018 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Alfred Preis

“I do believe deeply that the arts (reside) in the truly human area, where each individual is going to do something he or she does because he or she wants to do something well and does it better and better and better until he or she is gratified; that this is the essence of a successful life. Because you can do that as a cook, you can do that by making beds.” (Alfred Preis)

“I hoped to be interned! I wanted America to win the war, and if I hadn’t been picked up, I would have lost confidence in the authorities.” (Pries; Clarke)

Whoa … let’s look back …

Alfred Preis was one of 112 Germans and Italians – both aliens and naturalized citizens – who were interned in Hawai‘i on December 8, three days before the US went to war. (Clarke)

Preis “was born February 2, 1911, in Vienna, Austria. That was before the outbreak of the First World War. I lived at that time in a working-class district. My grandfather, whom I never knew, was a furniture maker and had his workshop there.”

“And my father was in the army and sent his wife to live somewhere near the grandmother, so that she would be sheltered and protected and have help. I lived in that area for three years and got ill, because the living conditions in Vienna at that time were dreadful. The apartments were not worth anything.”

“My grandmother lived in a suite composed of a large kitchen and one room, and to get into the room you had to walk through the kitchen. The only illumination at that time was kerosene lamps, which absorbed all the oxygen in the room.” (Preis; SFCA)

“But the situation in Vienna at that time-already before the outbreak of the war – was so that tuberculosis was all-prevalent. And when I was four years old, I got a touch of [tuberculosis] on my lungs.”

“The war broke out in 1914. [The sanatorium] was administered by the wives and daughters of Austrian aristocrats. It was a little chalet – a hunting chalet – up on the foothills of the Alps. I was dropped there by my mother, and she was advised, evidently, to leave me (without saying goodbye).”

“I (was released) after about half a year, not only hale but a different person. They planted seeds in me of curiosity-of (love for) literature (and good German). But the sheer interest these women had in us left an imprint on me which I still cherish. It was very important (for my future education).”

“I (grew up) in Catholicism. My father, however, was Jewish. Under the Nazi’s law I would have been considered half Jewish or Jewish, which (in effect) is the same thing. I was in danger.”

“My future wife also was in danger, although she was Catholic. She came as a refugee from the Russian Revolution and had to leave, as a child at that time, without a passport. So she had no citizenship, and she was vulnerable therefore.”

“The Nazis announced that they will put into concentration camp gypsies and loafers. And we were afraid that something would happen to her. We knew the Nazis would come. We still never talked about marriage or of intentions like that. After graduating from high school in 1929, he traveled throughout Europe and later returned to Vienna to study architecture.” (Preis; SFCA)

“We got our papers. But then we had to have a valid passport, which we had originally. But every time the Nazis reorganized the status of Austria, it meant that it had to be a different passport. So I think we had about five passports. The fina passport was a Nazi passport.”

“(W)e found out that the Queen Mary – an English ship, (and the fastest liner at the time) – that they (sold with the tickets) board money. That means (we) could pay with German money and get scrips. And (what we didn’t spend on board), they will (refund) them then in (dollars).”

“We arrived on April the 6th, 1939, in New York, before Easter – we saw an Easter parade on the 5th Avenue – and left on the 28th of May. Now before we could do that, we had to find contacts. I still wanted to go to Hawai’i. We had a letter [from] the priest who married us to a Catholic refugee organization in New York, which we presented.”

“(T)here was a priest – his name was Father Ostermann – and he was very different from the Austrian clerics. He was a very worldly man, experienced, had a sense of humor. I suspect he was skeptical, but certainly he was frivolous. And he said, “What do you want?”

“And we showed him our letter. ‘We would like to go to Hawaii’ (a destination they chose after seeing movies about the South Seas. (Clarke)) Father Ostermann looked at it and said, ‘Let me try.’ He obtained a waiver of a particular prohibition that people could [not] travel from an American port to another American port on a freighter.”

“Maybe Hawai’i was, to them, still a foreign port. He had to get that waiver. So we actually were then booked as a passenger on a 9,000 ton ship (of the Pioneer Line), a freight boat called the Sawoklah. And we were supposed to go through the [Panama] Canal to Hawai’i. … Then we left.” (Preis; SFCA)

Upon arrival in the Islands, he went to work with an architectural firm; “I did (design) a great number of (buildings) and residences, predominantly for Chinese.”

Then, that fateful day that changed the Islands and the world … “(we heard shooting and felt the impact of bombs or shots. And I turned to my wife and said, ‘That’s a very realistic maneuver today.’”

“At ten-thirty we … turned it to radio. KGU every Sunday at ten-thirty had a symphony concert, which we turned on. There was no symphony. There was a man who said, ‘This is not a maneuver. This is the real McCoy.’ We couldn’t believe it. We were all prepared for it, but we couldn’t believe it.”

“About seven o’clock in the evening … (following) the attack (on Pearl Harbor) – two men in civil[ian dress] came and said, ‘We have to ask you to come with us. We have to ask some questions. You will be back very soon.’”

“But it was seven o’clock in the evening. Somehow my upbringing under the Nazis made me skeptical. I said, ‘Do you mind if we take some toothbrushes along?’ ‘Well, you don’t need them, but okay, if you want to.’ We were the only people with toothbrushes.”

“We drove very, very slowly at that time (through the) darkened streets. The headlights were blue – later on red – (painted) with a tiny slit (for) the light (to shine through). And so the cars were creeping. I recognized – it was dark already, it was December – that we (were driving) to the immigration station.”

“We came to a one-story building which used to be a part of the quarantine station for immigrants. (The) man in charge, a major (who was originally) a customs officer, was (evidently) overanxious (and) strict. He (made us strip off) our (wedding) rings, which made me break down. Not even the Nazis took my wedding ring.”

“I was very nervous. I was worried about my wife. I made such a scene there that he returned all of our rings to all of us. With that man we had other (troubles). We were moved to an open area. There was a bunch of rolled up tents, and they said, ‘Erect them.’ So we built tents.”

“We were guarded by people from the national guard, local people. Some of them we were befriended with (from before). They were tired, and they didn’t have any sleep, (so) they begged us to (let them) sleep in our tent and that we would watch them so they wouldn’t get caught, which we did.”

“There were two camps side by side, separated by about (a) twenty-feet (wide maze) of barbed wire. We, the Haoles, were about fifty men. The Japanese camp had about 2,500”.

“The difference between the Japanese camp and ours was striking. Every tent – they had tents, as we did – (was adorned with tiny) pebbles, shells, and coral (splinters). They picked (them) up, and they made patterns like stone gardens out of it – neat, beautiful, clean, (with an innate genius) compared to us. We (at most) picked up cigarette butts (which our men just) threw away.”

“We saw that (from our) fifty people-Germans, Norwegians, Italians, (Austrians, and) Hungarians, all people (whose countries) were invaded and occupied by the Nazis and therefore (suspect) – small groups were leaving the camp.”

“The others, we later learned, were shipped to the Mainland. My wife and I and two others were left over. But eventually we were released on parole on March 28, 1942.” (Preis; SFCA)

Preis returned to his architectural practice. A notable, now iconic, structure was the USS Arizona Memorial.

The USS Arizona Memorial, located at Pearl Harbor, marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors killed on the USS Arizona during the Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by Japanese imperial forces and commemorates the events of that day.

The memorial, which was dedicated in 1962 and spans the sunken hull of the battleship Arizona, without touching it. The memorial visually floats above the water like an out stretched white sail hovering above the waters of the harbor.

The memorial was designed by Honolulu architect Alfred Preis, his design set out to create a bridge that would float above the battleship with room for approximately 200 visitors at a time. (Johnston)

Critics of the memorial’s design have likened it to a “squashed milk carton,” but the USS Arizona Memorial’s design is a little more complex than that. Preis had a clear idea in mind when he designed the memorial and everything about it serves a purpose.

The structure is about 184 feet long, and at both ends, it rises. The peaks are connected to a sag in the middle of the structure. This was no random design choice. It’s a metaphor for the United States at the time of World War II.

On one side, the first peak represents the country’s pride before the war. In the middle, the sag represents the shock and depression the country faced just after the bombs fell on Pearl Harbor.

One the other side of the structure, the second peak represents the might and power of the US after the war. Together, all three components tell a story. (Visit Pearl Harbor)

In 1963, Preis became state planning coordinator. While serving in that position, he helped draft the bill that established the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts [SFCA] in 1965. Preis served as acting executive director of the SFCA until July 1, 1966, when he was formally appointed executive director. He retired from the position in 1980. (SFCA)

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