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Hālawa Naval Cemetery

As a result of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, there were 2,403 people killed and 1,178 wounded. Among the deceased were 2,008 Navy personnel, 109 Marine, 218 Army and 68 civilians.  (navy-mil)

World War II brought death to more than 300,000 Americans who were serving their country overseas.  While the war was on, most of these honored dead were buried in temporary US military cemeteries.

(Punchbowl was not a cemetery at that time.  In 1943, the governor of Hawaiʻi offered the Punchbowl for use as a national memorial cemetery; in February 1948 Congress approved funding and construction began.  The first interment at Punchbowl was made January 4, 1949.)

(Initially, the graves at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific were marked with white wooden crosses and Stars of David; however, in 1951, these were replaced by permanent flat granite markers.)

After the attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941, the Navy selected Oʻahu Cemetery to bury the dead. At the time, only 300 plots at the cemetery were available for use.  Burials began there on December 8, 1941. (navy-mil)

“Historical records show that the Navy originally purchased plots in the cemetery October 9, 1919, and additional land was acquired in 1931. The current cemetery site was acquired April, 13, 1932.”  (NAVFAC)

Several temporary cemeteries were constructed – one was in lower Hālawa Valley, overlooking Pearl Harbor.

“On Dec. 9 it became evident that sufficient land was not available in Oʻahu Cemetery for this purpose.  By direction of the commandant (of the 14th Naval District), a site for a new cemetery was selected by the public works department. This site (Hālawa) was approved by the district medical officer and remaining burials were made in this new cemetery.”  (US Naval Hospital; Cole)

Over the course of about 4-years, about 1,500 graves were prepared (some containing multiple sets of remains.)  All bodies, except those of identified officers, were placed in plain wooden caskets. “Bodies of officers were placed in standard Navy caskets in order that they might later be disinterred and shipped home if desired.”

Two officers of the Chaplain Corps and two civilian priests from Honolulu rendered proper religious rites at the hospital and at the funeral ceremonies held each afternoon in the Oʻahu and Hālawa Cemeteries. The brief military ceremony held at the burial grounds included a salute fired by a Marine guard and the blowing of taps by a Marine bugler.  (navy-mil)

Following the war, Congress passed, and the President signed, a bill that authorized the War Department to take steps to provide a reverent final burial for those who gave the last full measure of devotion.

“A first step in determining the final resting place for Americans who died outside the continental United States during World War II will be taken this week, Col George E Hartman, commanding officer of the Schenectady General depot, US Army, announced yesterday. … letters will be sent to more than 20,000 next-of-kin of American dead now in 15 of 207 temporary cemeteries overseas.”

“Next-of-kin may choose to have remains of WWII armed forces personnel who dies overseas returned to the US for burial in a private cemetery; returned to the US for burial in a National Cemetery; buried in a permanent US military cemetery overseas; or buried in a private cemetery in a foreign country which is a homeland of the deceased or next-of-kin.”    (Schenectady Gazette, March 5, 1947)

In September 1947, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred and moved the remains to the Schofield Barracks Central Identification Laboratory (Schofield CIL), located at the AGRS Pacific Zone Headquarters, in order to effect or confirm identifications and return the men to their next of kin for burial.

Between August and September 1947, the US military exhumed 18 remains at Kāneʻohe Bay, 339 from Oʻahu Cemetery, and 1,516 at Hālawa, according to a 1957 government report.  (Cole)

What was the Hālawa Naval Cemetery is the vicinity of the Animal Quarantine and Hālawa Industrial Park.  (Currently, there are 135 Sailors, Marines and spouses interred in Oʻahu Cemetery.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Manjirō

Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) unified Japan by defeating his enemies at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. He was made Shōgun in 1603 and set up his headquarters at Edo (modern Tokyo.)  The Edo period is also known as the Tokugawa period; Japan was ruled by the Shōgun of the Tokugawa family.

For reasons of national security, from 1639 the Shōgunate ordered that contacts with the outside world be severely limited. Japan’s only regular contacts were with the Dutch, Chinese and Koreans.  (British Museum)

Fast forward through a couple centuries of Japan isolation to the mid-1850s … the US hoped Japan would agree to open certain ports so American vessels could begin to trade. In addition to interest in the Japanese market, America needed Japanese ports to replenish coal and supplies for the commercial whaling fleet.

On July 8, 1853, four black ships led by USS Powhatan and commanded by Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, anchored at Edo (Tokyo) Bay. The Japanese thought the ships were “giant dragons puffing smoke” (they had not ever seen steam ships with smoke from their stacks.)

“On that great historic event when the Perry Mission from the United States landed at Uraga (Japan) in 1853, Manjirō served as interpreter.  No more suitable person could have been found in all Japan.  Manjirō knew the American spirit and desires.”

“Any blunder on his part might have resulted in an international disaster.  As it was, the Perry mission was a great success.  In spite of the powerful conservatism of Japan’s ruling classes at that time, the country was opened to world-wide commerce.”  (Japanese Embassy; Millicent Library)

Let’s look back …

Manjirō was born January 23, 1827 in Nakahama, Kochi Torishima prefecture of Japan during the isolation period. He had a tough life as a young man, the death of his father at age 9 forced him to work to support his family.

By age 14 he was part of a five man fishing boat (Manjirō, Jūsuke, Denzō, Goemon and Toraemon.) During one trip in January 1841, they were caught in a storm and stranded on Torishima Island, off the coast of Japan.

Then, the log book of Captain William Whitfield on the ‘John Howland’ noted (June 27, 1841,) “This day light wind from S. E. Isle in sight at 1 P.M. Sent in two boats to see if there was any turtle, found 5 poor distressed people on the isle, took them off, could not understand anything from them more than that they was hungry.”  (Millicent Museum)

After 6-months at sea (arriving in Hawaiʻi,) Whitfield made Manjirō (now called ‘John Mung’ by the crew) an offer – stay in Hawaiʻi and find a ride home, or come with him to America and receive an education. Manjirō continued to the continent with Whitfield, arriving in New Bedford on May 3, 1843 (reportedly, the first Japanese person to live in the US.)

There, he joined the Whitfield household (the Captain had been a bachelor, but shortly after he married) and Manjirō moved with them to the Whitfield home in Fairhaven (as a foster son, not a servant.)

Not accepted at the Whitfield’s church, the family joined the Unitarian Church; a member of the congregation there was the Delano family (a grandson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt later became US president.)

In the following years the young foreigner became well known to the Fairhaven townspeople as Captain Whitfield treated him like a son. He went to his first school ever (the Old Stone School) after being tutored by Miss Allen, a local teacher and neighbor of the captain. He later learned higher level math, navigation and surveying at the Bartlett School.

Then, an opportunity to go to sea came up; the Captain was away, Mrs Whitfield gave her permission for Manjirō to go back to the Pacific and wrote a letter of introduction to a family friend, chaplain of the Seamen’s Bethel in Honolulu, Reverend Samuel C Damon.

He eventually returned to the Island and was repatriated with his friends (Jūsuke had died prior to Manjirō’s return.)  After three years at sea, he returned to New Bedford in 1849 (never making it back to his home in Japan – though he yearned to return.)

In October 1849, he got gold fever and rushed to California.  After only 70-days in the mines, he earned $600 – about the equivalent of 3-years wages as a whaler.  He then headed for Honolulu to encourage his 3 shipmates to return to Japan with him.

They found a ship (‘Sara Boyd’) headed for Shanghai; with the help of Damon and others, they raised enough funds to buy and provision a small boat (‘Adventure’) that they would store on the Sara Boyd and, when they were close to Japan, use it to make it to the islands.

Damon also obtained for Manjiro a US passport and helped him devise a plan to get safely back to his homeland.  Next they loaded the Adventure onto a larger American vessel which dropped the small boat off in the waters off present-day Okinawa.  (Yamamoto)

On February 3, 1851, 10-years after being shipwrecked, Manjirō, Denzō and Goemon landed on an Okinawan beach (Toraemon did not make the trip, he stayed in Honolulu.)  He eventually saw his mother, again.

The Japan leadership recognized the value Manjirō’s fluency in the English language; in addition, he was the only person in Japan who had extensive knowledge of English and American culture at the time.  Manjirō was raised to lower rank of samurai due to his usefulness to the Government.

Manjirō began to work for the Japan government; he was given a higher rank of samurai and retainer to the Shōgun, and, as such, he earned the right to carry a family name (he chose Nakahama as his surname, after his hometown.)

He became a teacher at the Tosa School, lecturing on American democracy, on freedom and equality, on the independent spirit, and on his travels on the world’s seas.  (Keio)

Manjirō tutored senior officers on the geography and history of the US, and the physical and mental characteristics of Americans.  He described American politics and American expectations from Japan and told them how to build and navigate western ships.

With Manjirō’s encouragement, the Shōgunate discarded the 200-years isolation and took the first step toward opening the country in his negotiations with Commodore Perry.  It is impossible to measure the service rendered by Manjirō in enabling Japan to accept the Japan-United States Friendship Treaty.

Manjirō’s contributions to the modernization of Japan were invaluable.  The Japanese relied heavily on his language skills and knowledge of the West.

America’s 30th president, Calvin Coolidge, later said, “When John Manjirō returned to Japan, it was as if America had sent its first ambassador. Our envoy Perry could enjoy so cordial a reception because John Manjirō had made Japan’s central authorities understand the true face of America.”  (Manjirō Society)

The Shōgunate sent a delegation to America in 1860 to exchange ratifications of the Japan-US Commercial Treaty. Manjirō boarded the ‘Kanrin-maru’ as instructor and translator.

The success of the Kanrin-maru voyage across the Pacific impressed the US side with the skill and abilities of the Japanese, and became a basis for the success of later bilateral diplomatic negotiations.  (Keio)  Manjiro later taught at Kaiser Gakko, forerunner of Toko Imperial University.  He died in 1898 at the age of 71.

Manjirō’s contributions to the modernization of Japan were invaluable.  He worked hard to establishing good communication between Japanese and Americans.

Both East and West recognized the importance of the friendship and faith Whitfield had in taking the young Manjirō into his home.  In 1987, Fairhaven and Tosashimizu, Japan formalized a sister city agreement (Crown Prince Akihito, now Emperor of Japan, visited Fairhaven at that time.)  (Fairhaven has a ‘Manjiro Trail,’ highlighting some of the sites, there.)

Gifts of samurai swords were given to the City of Fairhaven and Damon.  A short film ‘Friend Ships’ documents the relationship of Manjirō and Whitfield.  (Lots of information from Rosenbach Museum, Millicent Museum and Whitfield-Manjiro.)

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Jacques Étienne Victor Arago

Jacques Arago  (March 6, 1790 –  November 27, 1855) was a French writer, artist and explorer.
 
He joined Louis de Freycinet on his 1817 voyage around the world aboard the ship Uranie.
 
In his book, ‘Narrative of a Voyage Round the World,’ he writes:
 
“I made the Tour of the World, but not as a seaman: the vessel carried me, and I wandered with it.”
 
“On board the Uranie, I traversed the Indian Seas; visited the South Sea Archipelago; and after doubling Cape Horn, and spending three years in dangers and fatigues, saluted the Atlantic as an old friend, and re-visited the beloved coasts of ancient Europe.”
 
“During our long voyage I became acquainted with numerous tribes; hunted with the Brasilian and the Guanche; danced with the negroes of Africa; and slept under the hut of the Sandwich islander.”
 
“I have seen much, and observed much.  I visited some little known islands at which our ship did not anchor.”
 
“I availed myself of the length of our different rendezvous to make excursions into the interior of countries yet uncivilized, which were always amusing, and sometimes dangerous; but which enabled me to collect a variety of observations on the manners, arts, customs, and habits of the different nations which inhabited them.”
 

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Morse and the Missionaries

Jedidiah Morse was a country boy from Woodstock, Connecticut who attended Yale during the American Revolution. In the middle of his college career, a spiritual awakening came to Yale.

Jedidiah fell under conviction of sin, and, in the spring of 1781, gave his life to Christ – this energized him in all parts of his life.

Daniel Webster said Jedidiah was “always thinking, always writing, always talking, always acting.” Jedidiah’s motto was “better wear out than rust out.”  (Fisher)  Morse was a pastor, a graduate of Yale and a former teacher of young girls in New Haven.  (Spoehr)

Recognizing the inadequacy of the textbooks available in America at the time, Morse compiled and published the first American geography book.  Morse has been informally accredited by some as being “the father of American geography.”

Jedidiah and his sons started the first Sunday school in New England. (The family continued this kind of work when they moved to Connecticut; his son, Samuel, became the first Sunday school superintendent in New Haven.)    (Fisher)

Morse had set up a separate Theological Seminary at Andover in 1805. The Andover Seminary served as the recruitment and educational base of operations for a new American project, international missions to evangelize the world as the “School of Nations”.

In 1810, a group of Americans (including Rev. Jedidiah Morse) established the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missionaries (ABCFM) at Farmington, Connecticut.  (Wesser)

Jedidiah brought all the separate strands of the Christian community in New England together to found Andover Theological Seminary.  Out of Andover’s first graduating class came America’s first foreign missionaries, and the school became known as a missionary training ground. (Fisher)

To them, Christianity was not a “personal religious question” or “feeling,” but rather as a profound philosophical passion to “do good works”.  (Wesser)

Morse was an abolitionist and friend of the black community in Boston, when abolitionists were few. Also, a significant portion of his life was spent looking for ways to benefit Native Americans and preparing the way for missions among them.  (Fisher)

ABCFM accounted for 80% of all missionary activities in America; reformed bodies (Presbyterians and Congregationalists, in particular) made up nearly 40% of the participants.

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.)  There were seven American couples sent by the ABCFM to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity in this first company.

These included two Ordained Preachers, Hiram Bingham and his wife Sybil and Asa Thurston and his wife Lucy; two Teachers, Mr. Samuel Whitney and his wife Mercy and Samuel Ruggles and his wife Mary; a Doctor, Thomas Holman and his wife Lucia; a Printer, Elisha Loomis and his wife Maria; and a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife and five children.

With the missionaries were four Hawaiian students from the Foreign Mission School, Thomas Hopu, William Kanui, John Honoliʻi and Prince Humehume (son of Kauaʻi’s King Kaumuali‘i.)

Prior to departure, a portrait of each of the company had been painted by Samuel Morse; engravings from these paintings of the four native “helpers” were later published as fund-raisers for the Sandwich Islands Mission and thereby offer a glimpse of the “Owhyhean Youths” on the eve of their Grand Experiment.  (Bell)

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863) (the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the ABCFM in the Hawaiian Islands.

In addition to his religious endeavors, son, Samuel, showed enough artistic promise for his father to send him abroad to study painting after he graduated from Yale University in 1810.

Painting provided Samuel with pocket money to help pay his term bills at Yale. He became one of the small handful of important American painters in his generation, and many famous depictions of notable Americans are his work.

The portrait of Noah Webster at the front of many Webster dictionaries is his, as are the most familiar portraits of Benjamin Silliman, Eli Whitney, and General Lafayette.  (Fisher)

The problem was not a lack of talent, for Morse showed great promise as a painter, but he offered Americans grand paintings with historical themes, when all his paying patrons really wanted were portraits of themselves.

Eventually Morse accepted many portrait commissions, but even they did not bring the steady income he needed to support himself and his family.

At the same time, Morse was also deeply involved in trying to make a go of his newfound vocation as a daguerreotypist. Morse enthusiastically embraced this startling new technology and became one of the first to practice photography in America.  (LOC)

Morse the artist also became known as “the Father of American photography.” He was one of the first in the US to experiment with a camera, and he trained many of the nation’s earliest photographers.  (Fisher)

Oh, one more thing about Samuel Morse, while he did not invent the telegraph, he made key improvements to its design, and his work would transform communications worldwide.

First invented in 1774, the telegraph was a bulky and impractical machine that was designed to transmit over twenty-six electrical wires. Morse reduced that unwieldy bundle of wires into a single one.

Along with the single-wire telegraph, Morse developed his “Morse” code. He would refine it to employ a short signal (the dot) and a long one (the dash) in combinations to spell out messages.

Following the routes of the quickly-spreading railroads, telegraph wires were strung across the nation and eventually, across the Atlantic Ocean, providing a nearly-instant means of communication between communities for the first time.

Newspapers, including as the Associated Press joined forces to pool payments for telegraphed news from foreign locales. Railroads used the telegraph to coordinate train schedules and safety signaling. Morse died in 1872, having advanced a practical technology that truly transformed the world.  (PBS)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ohia Lodge

“For a number of years prior to the beginning of [WWII], home building was curtailed, and such materials as might normally be needed to meet the housing requirements of a growing population were diverted to national defense … these materials were actually frozen.”  (DOI Annual Report, 1946)

Then, in post-WWII, “During the past year [1946] the problem has become even more serious. The Governor’s housing committee and a committee of the chamber of commerce of Honolulu, after a careful study, reported that 11,000 additional houses were needed”.

“A number of factors have militated against an adequate home-building program. The most important of these are: (a) scarcity of land even at an extremely high price, (b) unavailability of building materials, and (c) shortage and high cost of labor.” (DOI Annual Report, 1946)

“Two enterprising Honolulu business men, with faith in the future of Kona … have licked the building material shortage by using their brains and brawn.  The are Howard O Redfearn, the former Honolulu contractor, and Chester Horn …”

“About the first of the year they started to work to create the timber and other material necessary for the construction of their Ohia Lodge, on Redfearn’s 350-acre tract in South Kona …”

“They were unable to procure material at that time, so set about making their own. First Redfearn moved his sawmill to the site and set it up. Then the two men went to work with ax and saw cutting down ohia trees, which grow in abundance on the tract.  They selected uniform size and then trimmed off the bark and sawed the log in half.”

“With these halves, placed upright, they began the construction of the first lodge, which is 24 by 50 feet. … The interior of the building, including the bar, the tables, doors, bar stools and kitchen are built of koa and ohia.”

“The koa was obtained from a nearby forest but the ohia wood all came from the Redfearn ranch. … The floor is cement but is waxed for dancing. The foundation and all the masonry has been constructed from rocks gathered up on the place, as well as a great circular water tank, cemented inside …”

“A large parking space has been levelled off in front of the building and this will be paved.  Around it there will be special landscaping and flower gardens.”


“The lodge bar will be opened for business [on May 29, 1947]. A little later the dining room, which will specialize in charcoal cooked steaks and short orders, will be opened. And as soon as possible a general liquor dispensary will be opened.” (Hilo Tribune Herald May 10, 1947)

“Plans have been prepared for the construction of 40 cottages in the rear of the lodge similar to many types seen on the mainland. These cottages will be 12×16 feet, and each will contain two three-quarter size beds, adequately spaced for privacy.”

“After the cottages have been constructed a modern gas station will be built, carrying all kinds of motor supplies. The whole setup will stimulate a miniature California Palm Springs, with mild desert air included.”

“Horn will be general manager. Orchestra music will be supplied every Saturday night and on any other occasion required.”

“As a special added attraction for tourists there will be saddle trails all over the tract so that guests will be able to go horseback riding at all times and since the tract is but a short distance from the sea arrangements to conduct fishing parties will be an added feature in the line of sports.” (Hilo Tribune Herald May 10, 1947)

‘Ōhia Lodge, the half-way house on the main highway between Hilo and Kona was “a showplace. Howard Redfearn built it as a volcano country club resort and opened it in [1947].  The lodge, built of Ohia, a native hardwood similar to mahogany, had a dining room seating 200 people.” (Spokesman-Review, Jun 6, 1950)

“[P]eople came from far and near to see for themselves what two men, alone and unaided, had accomplished in such a short time. … [I]t is so located that it gives a clear view of both the mountains and the sea, and is on the main highway into the Kona district.”  (Hnl Adv, Aug 3, 1947)

“Mr Redfearn also revealed that he has begun the construction of another dwelling, to be occupied by Mr and Mrs William [and Helene] Hale, teachers at Konawaena school, and four tourist cabins …”

“… the first units of several to eventually be built for the convenience of tourists and others. Two dwellings have already been completed and occupied and a third is now under construction.”  (Hilo Tribune Herald, Feb 24, 1949)

“The first three units of the proposed auto court at Ohia Lodge Kona is partially completed by Howard O Redfearn, proprietor of the lodge.”

“Work, however, has been temporarily suspended while Redfearn is engaged in the construction of a new … residence for Richard Penhallow at Waimea … This will be the fourth residence of the completed by Mr Redfearn of this unique design.” (Hilo Tribune Herald, Oct 1, 1949)

Then, disaster struck; Mauna Loa erupted … “Howard Redfearn’s handsome Ohia Lodge in South Kona was engulfed by lava between 8 and 9 last night. A fiery finger, separating from the main channel, moved steadily toward the lodge during the afternoon and finally reached the building, wiping out the Ohia and field stone structures.”

“It was the plan to expand Ohia lodge facilities with a group of tourist cabins.  It is reported that two such cabins had been constructed before the lodge was destroyed by the flowing lava.” (Star Bulletin, Jun 5, 1950)

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