Military | Page 40 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

March 15, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Harold Melville Clark

Harold Melville Clark was born October 4, 1890, to Charles Asa Clark and Amanda Palmer Clark in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Clark family had a strong military tradition dating back to the Revolutionary War.

His father fought Spanish forces in the Philippines while assigned to Company E, 13th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, during the Spanish American War of 1898. Clark’s older brother, Charles, served as a field-artillery officer with the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War I.

The end of the Spanish American War brought a period of growth and interest in the Philippines. In 1904, the Clarks moved to Manila, where they enjoyed considerable wealth and prestige due to the family’s business ventures. During this time, Harold attended the American High School in Manila; he graduated April 1, 1910.

Harold followed in his family’s footsteps and returned to the US for military training. After being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the cavalry in 1913, his first assignment was with 1st Cavalry Division.

A couple years later he transferred into the Signal Corps’ aviation section and went to the North Island Flying School in San Diego, Calif. On May 3, 1917, Clark received his rating as a junior military aviator.

While Clark was getting his Army wings, the Signal Corps’ aviation section and military aviation in general was getting a troublesome start in the Hawaiian Islands. The first Army airplanes, pilots and crews arrived in Oahu in July 1913. The planes were based at Fort Kamehameha, near present-day Hickam Air Force Base.

Lieutenant Harold Geiger, who commanded the aviation assets, noted his limited aircraft were in poor shape. His flights were limited to short flights in Pearl Harbor and a longer flight to Diamond Head and back to Fort Kamehameha.

Geiger was ordered to cease all flying operations in late 1913. The planes were sold locally, and the engines were sent back to the North Island Flying School. The Hawaiian Islands wouldn’t see any more Army aviation activity until 1917. (Romano; Arlington)

Major Harold Clark became Army Department Aviation Officer and arrived in the Territory of Hawaii in 1917 to take command of the Army’s 6th Aero Squadron.

A major construction effort was initiated at the new Army air base at Pearl Harbor. Before long, Ford Island had two double seaplane hangars with concrete ramps, two wooden land plane hangars, one small motor repair and machine shop, and a supply warehouse.

In the center to the south end a narrow strip of land was cleared for land plane operation. By this time, the 6th’s strength increased to 10 officers. (hawaii-gov)

Clark quickly began to learn the Hawaiian winds and how to fly in them. On March 15, 1918, he flew to Molokai and back to Oahu – the first round trip inter-island flight ever made in the Hawaiian Islands.

His next feat was to try a three-island flight. Agreeing to take the mail, on May 9, 1918, Clark and mechanic Sergeant Robert Gray took off from Fort Kamehameha Oahu and flew to Maui. (Griffith)

After landing in Maui, they continued onto the island of Hawai‘i; nearing Hawai‘i’s coastline, Clark encountered thick cloud formations and promptly lost his bearings. Darkness added to his worries, so the Army flyer decided to land quickly. His airplane crashed on the slope of Mauna Kea.

Unhurt, pilot and mechanic found themselves in a jungle-like brush with no civilization in sight. Hoping to draw attention to their location, the pair set a fire some distance away from the wreckage … no rescuers came, so they started to walk out. (Hawaii-gov)

Two days after the crash, Clark and Gray emerged from the jungle unhurt. Clark delivered the letters, received an enormous welcome from the island’s residents and was the first airman to fly the mail in the Hawaiian Islands. (Griffith)

Clark continued to make regular flights among the islands. However, he was ordered back to the US mainland August 28, 1918, for pursuit training at the North Island Flying School.

Following this, Clark assumed command of Pursuit Group, First Provisional Wing, at Minneola, Long Island, N.Y. Clark commanded this group for only a short time before being ordered to Panama at the end of 1918.

On the morning of May 2, 1919, Clark and two other aviators, Lieutenant JRL Hitt and Lieutenant Thomas Cecil Tonkin, left France Field for Balboa in an Army seaplane. While enroute, the plane developed engine problems, but the trio made it to Balboa safely.

That same afternoon, the three aviators began the return flight to France Field with Hitt at the controls. Due to the plane’s earlier troubles, the flight followed the Panama Canal at an altitude of 250 feet. Shortly into the flight, the plane’s engine stopped.

The plane crashed into the front of Miraflores Locks at about 5 pm. “The machine crumpled up like a house of cards, and the three men were thrown into the water of the lock. Lieutenant Tonkin was undoubtedly killed instantly by the twisting timbers of the machine.”

“… Major Clark sank to the bottom of the lock, and it’s not known whether he was killed in the crash or whether he drowned.” (Panama Star & Herald; Romano; Arlington)

Hitt was severely injured in the crash, but bystanders rescued him. The Army ruled his death as an accident due to internal injuries caused by “aeroplane traumatism,” according to a Defense Department report on Clark’s death dated May 8, 1919. Clark was buried May 29, 1919, with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

The base in the Philippines that would eventually bear Clark’s name was established in 1902 as Fort Stotensberg. The Army used this installation as a cavalry post following the Spanish American War. During World War II, this base would be pivotal in the Army Air Force’s effort to win the air war against Japan.

Following the end of World War II and creation of the U.S. Air Force in 1947, Fort Stotensberg was renamed Clark Air Base. The US turned over possession of Clark Air Base to the Republic of the Philippines November 26, 1991. Clark Air Base is now an international airport serving the Philippines. (Romano; Arlington)

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Harold_Melville_Clark-HS Diploma

Harold_Melville_Clark-Junior Military Aviator Certificate

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In 1918 Maj Harold Clark & Sgt Robert Gray flew a Curtiss R-6 seaplane (similar to this) on the first flight from Oahu to Big Island

In 1918 Maj Harold Clark and Sgt Robert Gray survived a crash on Mauna Kea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii

Cloudy slopes of Mauna Kea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, where Maj. Harold Clark crashed in 1918

Harold Melville Clark gravestone

Clark Air Force Base

March 10, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Naked Warriors

They were equipped only with swim fins, face mask and a slate board with a lead pencil on which to record intelligence gathered … their only weapon was a knife (thus, nearly defenseless or ‘naked;’) they were part of the Underwater Demolition Team (UDT.)

The Pacific Underwater Demolition Teams originated at Waimanalo Beach in December, 1943. (A ‘Naked Warrior’ monument commemorates their training at Bellows.)

On November 19, 1943, five thousand US Marines invaded Tarawa Island in the Gilbert Islands. Offshore coral reefs and other obstacles in the surf had resulted in many of the Marines drowning or being hit by enemy fire because their landing craft could not reach the beach.

Tarawa proved that troops should not be sent against enemy beaches until a thorough off-shore reconnaissance had been made.

To prevent a repetition of Tarawa it was necessary for trained personnel to search the water off the beaches and remove obstacles to make the passage from ship to shore nearly safe as possible. UDTs were organized in the Pacific following the Tarawa invasion.

UDT-1 and UDT-2 (each with about 15-officers and 150-enlisted men) were formed at Amphibious Training Base (ATB) Waimanalo, which was situated in proximity of today’s Bellows Air Force Station (AFS.) (By the end of the war, there were 34 UDTs.)

War planners realized success would require massive and numerous beach attacks from Africa to Normandy to hundreds of islands in the Pacific. Every one of those beaches was defended by an intricate network of underwater obstacles, booms, mines, chains and barriers.

Some were straight angled pillars and some were L-shaped, X-shaped and H-shaped “hedgehogs” that functioned even when knocked over. The obstacles could rip the bottom out of landing craft and often were topped by “teller” mines, flat plate-shaped explosives (“teller” is German for “plate.”)

Initially, about thirty officers and one-hundred and fifty men trained in underwater demolition work at Waimanalo. The original teams were comprised of men from the Navy, Army and Marine Corps.

After their first combat deployment in January-February 1944, UDT training was moved to Kihei, Maui, because Waimanalo didn’t have the space or facilities needed for demolition training.

The Naval Combat Demolition Training and Experimental Base, Maui was set up on the beach near the pier of the Kamaole Amphibious Training Base. (A monument commemorating UDT-14 is at Kamaole Beach Park I, in Kihei.)

Some of the first to go ashore in combat were 6-man units, called Navy Combat Demolition Units; divers located obstacles, mapped lines of attack, disarmed mines and demolished natural and man-made beach blockages.

During their early missions, Navy combat swimmers were completely clothed in combat uniforms, boots and metal helmets. That changed during a mission in preparation for the invasion of the Japanese held atoll of Kwajalein in January 1944.

Ordered to conduct a reconnaissance mission to assess beach conditions in advance of the planned assault, the two man team of Ensign Lewis F. Luehrs and Chief Petty Officer Bill Acheson could not get close enough to shore because of a coral reef.

They stripped to their underwear and swam over the reef to complete the mission undetected, becoming the first “Naked Warriors.”

Following the success of that mission, training emphasized strong swimming skills and operating without the use of lifelines, wearing only face masks, swim trunks and fins.

Underwater Demolition Teams were the foremost precursors of today’s Navy SEALs (starting on the windward coast of Oʻahu, in Waimanalo.)

The concept for development of an improved “Naval Guerrilla/Counter-guerrilla Warfare” capability within the US Navy was delineated in a March 10, 1961 Navy memorandum of recommendations.

Included was a recommendation for a wide range of “additional unconventional warfare capabilities within, or as an extension of our amphibious forces.”

The same memorandum stated that, “An appropriate name for such units could be ‘SEAL’ units, SEAL being a contraction of SEA, AIR, LAND, and thereby indicating an all-around, universal capability.” (Navy)

A bronze “Naked Warrior” statue greets visitors at the Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida. (Lots of information here is from Navy and Navy UDT-SEAL Museum.)

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Pencil drawing displaying NCDU men at Omaha Beach, Normandy, France on D-Day, June 6th, 1944

Naked Warrior in water

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Naked Warrior-under water

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Naked Warrior-setting charges training

Underwater Demolition Team 14 -Kihei Maui

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Naked Warrior UDT WWII _ National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum

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February 27, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Henry Ho‘olulu Pitman

“Henry Pitman, the first of Hawai‘i’s sons to fall in the war, died at Annapolis Parole Camp, Union army. His remains were deposited in Mt Auburn Cemetery, near Boston, Massachusetts, his memory be embalmed among our band. … He died in a just cause.” (HMCS)

Timothy Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman, born March 18, 1845, in Hilo, was the eldest son of High Chiefess Kinoʻole-o-Liliha (Kinoʻole) of Hilo and Benjamin Pitman, originally from Boston (his siblings were Mary and Benjamin.)

“(Kinoʻole) was a daughter of Hoʻolulu, a famous chief in the time of Kamehameha the Great. Hoʻolulu and Ulumāheihei (afterwards converted to Christianity and renamed Hoapili-Kane by the missionaries, and first governor of Maui) took the body of Kamehameha at his death and hid it in the caves at Kaloko fish ponds, according to Hawaiian custom with great chiefs.”

“The Chiefess Kinoʻole who married Benjamin Pitman, senior, lived for many years in a mansion on the spot where the Hilo Hotel now stands. Pitman, is a first cousin of the late George Beckley, for many years purser and director with the Inter-island Steamship Company. Beckley’s mother was Kinoiki, sister of Chiefess Kino‘ole.” (Star-Bulletin, December 26, 1916)

His father “came here in about 1833, and ran a general merchandise store on one corner of the present Hotel grounds, the family homestead being located where the Hotel is now located.” (Hilo Tribune, February 14, 1905)

Henry’s father, “ became very wealthy out of the then flourishing whale business, which was centered around the Islands, and … (became) the king’s representative on Hawaii, having charge of all the royal, crown and public lands here.”

“He acquired considerable property, owning the whole of the Puueo tract of 2,500 acres, and also about 300 acres of the Ponohawai tract, commencing just above Pleasant Street and running 2 miles up the Kaumana Road.”

“As Pitman’s business increased he built a new store on the comer of Front and King Streets, where the Ick Sing Company is now located, and continued in business there until 1861 when he sold to Capt. Spencer.”

“His store and that of Geo. More, located where the Coney House now stands, were the only two stores in the village during the lava flow of 1840, when night was as bright as day in Hilo.”

“Pitman Street (what is now the segment of Kinoʻole Street between Waianuenue Avenue and Haili (then called Church) Street, where the Hotel is located is named after this early pioneer.” (Hilo Tribune, February 14, 1905)

Henry Pitman’s mother died in 1855; “His hair was jet black, his eyes large and lustrous, his face swarthy, and from the ambrotypes shown us of the princess, his mother, he strongly resembled her whom he mourned”. (Parker)

His father later married Maria Louisa (Walsworth) Kinney, widow of missionary Henry Kinney. She died in Hilo on March 6, 1858.

His father decided to leave the islands and returned to Massachusetts with the children around 1860. Henry continued his education in the public schools of Roxbury, Boston, where the Pitman family lived for a period of time. Then, the Civil War.

“His resolve was made. He would enlist.” (Carter) On August 14, 1862, Pitman left school without his family’s knowledge and volunteered to serve in the Union Army and fight in the American Civil War.

A member of Co. H, 22nd Regt. Mass. Vols., he was with his Regiment in the battles of South Mountain, Antietam and Sharpsburg. (Pitman Gravestone)

“Among our number, however, we had noticed a tall, slim boy, straight as an arrow. His face was a perfect oval, his hair was as black as a raven’s wing, and his eyes were large and of that peculiar soft, melting blackness, which excites pity when one is in distress.”

“His skin was a clear, dark olive, bordering on the swarthy, and this, with his high cheek bones, would have led us to suppose that his nationality was different from our own, had we not known that his name was plain Henry P– .” (Carter)

“There was an air of good breeding and refinement about him, that, with his small hands and feet, would have set us to thinking, had it not been that in our youth and intensely enthusiastic natures, we gave no thought to our comrades’ personal appearance.”

“(T)he tears trembled upon his long, dark lashes, and rolled down the swarthy cheeks of the boy soldier. As we hastened along the hard Warrenton turnpike, on this 18th day of November, on our march to the ‘Spotted Tavern,’ every step seemed accompanied by a groan of fatigue or exhaustion, from the worn and weary men.” (Carter)

“It was long and terribly exhausting march. It rained nearly every day. In vain did the water-soaked, drowned-out men try to dry out their clothes and cleanse the mud from their persons, now filthy from long neglect.”

“We wallowed and floundered along the boggy roads the wagons stalled the mules, no longer able to scarcely drag the wagons, lay down in their harness, many of them to die. The teamsters cursed and swore, and the columns staggered along.” (Parker)

“Private Henry Pitman, Company H, asked member of the company if he would fall out with him as he was sick, and his feet, from wearing tight boots, were blistered and unfit for marching, and his comrade consented to do so.”

“A fire was started, coffee put on to boil, and the rear of the column had nearly passed, when it was decided that without authority to fall out, even to care for sick man, arrest or disastrous consequences might result, and the comrade determined to move on.”

“Pitman was urged to make further effort and go into camp, but he positively refused to budge until his poor sick body was rested from the exhausting efforts of the day’s march.”

“Leaving him as comfortable as possible, his comrade joined the rear of the column, and struggling to the head joined the Twenty-second, and went into camp an hour later. Pitman was never heard from, and was always borne upon the rolls as missing.” (Parker)

Pitman was taken prisoner by Stuart’s cavalry on the march to Fredricksburg. “He was sent to Libby Prison, and not being strong, contracted still further the chronic disease”. (Parker)

He was part of a prisoner exchange and paroled to a camp in Annapolis, Maryland. “The men who arrived there from Southern prisons ‘were in pitiable condition of mind and body, having experienced extreme suffering.’” (Dye)

“(H)e was confined in a place he called the ‘Pen’ which undoubtedly refers to the Andersonville Stockade where thousands of Union soldiers were starved to death while under gard. In one of his letters Henry Pittman tells of the filthy meat thrown to them as if they were dogs.” (Hawaiian Gazette, June 28, 1910)

Then, the sad news … “We regret to learn by the last mail of the death of Henry Pitman, son of Benj. Pitman, Esq formerly of Hilo. He died at the Annapolis Parole Camp, Feb. 27th, of lung fever, having been serving as soldier in the Union army.”

“He was about 20 years of age (17-years, 11-months and 9 days,) and his remains were deposited in Mt. Auburn Cemetery, near Boston Mass.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 28, 1863)

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Henry Hoolulu Pitman

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Mrs._Benjamin_Pitman_(High_Chiefess_Kinoole-o-Liliha)-1849

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Timothy Henry Pitman gravestone

January 17, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Martial Law

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 lasted 110-minutes, from 7:55 am until 9:45 am. By 10:30 am, in co-operation with the Navy, the Army began to apply a tight censorship to prevent the transmission from Hawaiʻi of any unauthorized information about the attack or about the condition of Oʻahu’s defense forces after it was over.

Shortly after, Joseph Boyd Poindexter, Governor of the Territory of Hawaiʻi, by proclamation, invoked the powers granted him under the M-Day Act.

Titled ‘Hawaiian Defense Act 1941,’ the M-Day Act (M standing for mobilization) was first introduced in the legislature in April, 1941. It contemplated that in a maximum emergency, the Governor was authorized to declare a state of emergency in attempt to avoid the necessity of martial law. (Green)

At 11:30 am, December 7, 1941, Governor Poindexter exercised his powers and “declare(d) and proclaim(ed) a defense period to exist throughout the Territory of Hawaiʻi.”

However, at 3:30 pm of the same day, Poindexter issued a second proclamation where he placed the Territory of Hawaiʻi under martial law and authorized the “Commanding General, Hawaiian Department, during the present emergency and until the danger of invasion is removed, to exercise all the powers normally exercised by me as Governor”. He followed-up with a telegram to the President of the US.

“I have today declared martial law throughout the Territory of Hawaii and have suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. Your attention is called to section 67 of the Hawaiian Organic Act for your decision of my action.” (Governor Poindexter to President Roosevelt, December 7, 1941)

(Writ of habeas corpus (‘that you have the body’) is a process in the US system used to bring a party who has been criminally convicted in state court into federal court. Usually, writs of habeas corpus are used to review the legality of the party’s arrest, imprisonment or detention.) (Cornell Law School)

The President responded, “Your telegram of December 7th received and your action in suspending the writ of Habeas Corpus and placing the Territory of Hawaii under martial law in accordance with USC Title 48, Section 532 has my approval.” (President Roosevelt to Governor Poindexter, December 9, 1941)

The Army’s Commanding General of the Hawaiian Department (Lt General Short) became the Military Governor of Hawai’i, assuming comprehensive executive, legislative and judicial powers.

The martial law regime affected every resident of the Territory of Hawaiʻi, citizen and foreign alike. Never before or after in American history were US citizens kept under martial law in such numbers or for so long a time.

On the first day, December 7th, an advisory board was appointed consisting of informed local citizens. At 6:04 pm, the police radio broadcast: “From now on nobody allowed out of their homes.”

All saloons were closed, and a Provost Court and Military Commission were appointed for the enforcement of the orders of the Military Governor. (Green)

In his first proclamation as Military Governor on December 7, 1941, Lt General Short stated that: “I shall therefore shortly publish ordinances governing the conduct of the people of the Territory with respect to the showing of lights, circulation, meetings, censorship, possession of arms, ammunition, and explosives, the sale of intoxicating liquors and other subjects.”

“In order to assist in repelling the threatened invasion of our island home, good citizens will cheerfully obey this proclamation and the ordinances to be published; others will be required to do so. Offenders will be severely punished by military tribunals or will be held in custody until such time that the civil courts are able to function.”

Martial law suspended constitutional rights, turned the civilian courts over to the military, imposed blackout and curfew, rationing of food and gasoline, censorship of mail and news media, temporary prohibition, realigned business hours, froze wages, and regulated currency.

All civilians over six years of age were required to be fingerprinted. Except for taxes, General Orders, issued by the Military Governor, regulated every facet of civilian life, from traffic control to garbage collection. Violations were punished summarily by provost courts or military tribunals; there was no right of appeal. (Hawaiʻi Army Museum)

Under martial law, military officers assumed all legislative, executive and judicial powers.

The two houses of the Hawaiʻi legislature, as well as judges of all courts, Territorial and federal, were not on the organizational chart as part of the martial law government. Under the martial law regime, there was no room for legislation, other than decrees by the military.

While members of the legislature and many emergency committees met daily in the halls of the legislature in ʻIolani Palace, the military governor did not recognize the legislature as a source of legislative power. Likewise, since law enforcement was concentrated in the military commissions and provost courts, the local courts held no position. (Anthony)

The courts of the Territory were closed as of December 8, 1941 by order of the military. On January 27, 1942, the Military Governor stated that the courts were restored to their full jurisdiction “as agents of the Military Governor.”

On the criminal side, however, the courts could not under the order summons a grand jury; on the criminal or civil side they could not grant a jury trial, or at any time grant a writ of habeas corpus. (US District Court, 1944)

Japanese Americans were incarcerated in at least eight locations on Hawaiʻi. These sites that include Honouliuli Gulch, Sand Island, and the U.S. Immigration Station on Oahu, the Kilauea Military Camp on the Big Island, Haiku Camp and Wailuku County Jail on Maui, and the Kalaheo Stockade and Waialua County Jail on Kauaʻi.

In all, between 1,200 and 1,400 local Japanese were interned, along with about 1,000 family members. The number of Japanese in Hawai‘i who were detained was small relative to the total Japanese population here, less than 1%.

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)

This did not extinguish all of the military control; the title and office of the Military Governor’ were retained. In July, 1944, the office was renamed Office of Internal Security. On October 24, 1944, President Roosevelt terminated martial law and restored the writ of habeas corpus. (Anthony)

Military Generals having control of the Islands and their terms included: Walter C Short (December 7, 1941 – December 17, 1941,) Delos C Emmons (December 17, 1941 – June 1, 1943) and Robert C Richardson, Jr (June 1, 1943 – October 24, 1944.)

This was not the first proclamation of martial law in the Islands. On January 17, 1893, martial law was declared by the Provisional Government of the Hawaiian Islands.

Then, on January 7, 1895, Republic of Hawaiʻi President Sanford B Dole declared martial law following Kaua Kūloko (Civil War 1895) when forces attempted to return Queen Liliʻuokalani to the throne following the overthrow of constitutional monarchy. Martial law, then, lasted until March 18, 1895.

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US Army M3 Stuart light tanks in maneuvers, Beretania Street in the Honolulu business district, Hawaii, 30 August 1942

Waikiki Beach behind barbed wire fence, during martial law

Waikiki barbed wire

U.S. soldiers surround Iolani Palace with barbed wire during the rule of martial law in 1942

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Iolani Palace barbed wire (bishopmuseum)

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Air Raid Shelter-(Star-bulletin)

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Lt Gen Delos C Emmons, Commanding General, Hawaiian Dept – Brig Gen Thomas H Green, Military Governor-Mar. 30, 1943

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Stainback, Ingram M., Governor of Hawaii, 1883-1961 – restoration of civil authority-March 10, 1943-PP-36-12-004

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January 14, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Bull Pen

Betty Jean O’Hara was “born in Chicago, Illinois in 1913, the year preceding the 1st World War. The early years of (her) life were happy and normal. Being the only child of a physician, (she) was given the best schooling in preparation for a career.”

“(Her) parents were Catholic, and were strict in the regimentation of (her) life. (She) was permitted however to attend parties and movies with other children (her) age.”

At about the age of 16, she met a girl and her boyfriend at a party. The girl was covered in fine jewelry and nice clothes. Young, and easily led, she “agreed to their sordid plans and went into the business of the ‘oldest profession.’” A month later, she left home and headed to San Francisco. (O’Hara)

“Jean O’Hara was a pretty girl who became a handsome woman. She was ‘black Irish,’ fair-skinned with a clear complexion which set off her dark eyes, raven hair, and even her features. She stood about 5’4” and at 120 pounds was slender by that era’s standards. Her good looks and classy bearing would serve her well.” (Bailey & Farber)

“(O’Hara) got used to the fast money.”

“(She) started working in one of the better class houses, and (she) became definitely committed to the practice of prostitution. (Her) father and mother tried every means available to frighten (her) into going home …”

“… but being headstrong, and enticed by the seemingly fabulous earnings (she) resisted their every attempt. Although (she) actually loathed the life, (her) sense of shame and sin aroused in (her) a perverse independence.” (O’Hara)

In mid-1938, O’Hara arrived in Honolulu from San Francisco.

There was an unofficial system of regulated prostitution in the Islands, with the also unofficial sanction of the military. Army military police and the Navy shore patrol helped monitor it.

All girls had to live in the houses where they worked; no white girls were allowed on the other side of River Street. The Army, Navy, and civilian police picketed any house violating the rules, and no man could enter it. According to the agreement, the civil police regulated prostitution “with full cooperation by the Army and Navy.” (Greer)

“The business of procuring girls to work in the brothels, or “factories”, before the war (WWII,) was usually handled by the same … “procurer.” He handled nothing but the transportation of the girls. … The fee for procuring a girl from the mainland rage(d) from $500 to $1,000 depending on the looks and the capability of the girl.” (O’Hara)

A detective would meet the ships coming in and the girls were taken to the ‘receiving station.’ (In O’Hara’s case, that was the Blaisdell Hotel on Fort Street.) The girls were explained the rules – in no uncertain terms, the girls were told that any violation of the rules meant banishment from the Territory.

All of the girls have a Territorial tax book and a Territorial license (they were licensed as ‘entertainers,’) which cost each $1 per year. In addition, every month the Vice Squad would collect an unofficial tax of $30 per girl from the brothels.

The girls paid Federal income taxes, as well as state taxes. “It has been said that (the) girls and Madames are the heaviest tax payers in Honolulu. … Each girl in Honolulu can average from $4,000 per month to $5,000 per month. … Taxes are collected by the Madame of the house, who also files the returns for them.” (O’Hara)

Before WWII, the girls usually started to work around 1 pm, and ended around 5 am. The ‘blackout’ during the war meant they worked from 8 am to noon.

“Very few girls made under a $100 a day, some of these double that and some of them made over $300 a day. It all depends upon the girl. She can make as much as she wants.”

“The price charged is $3.00 per date. Of this, the Madame gets one dollar. Out of the remaining two dollars, the girl must pay the Madame for her room and board and laundry.” (O’Hara)

The Madames were women from the mainland. Although prostitution was not legal, they needed permission from the local Police before operating.

When WWII broke out, and martial law was in effect, the military called the shots (1941-1943.) A “substantial number” of prostitutes were brought to Honolulu from the mainland under military priorities – a common rumor – and that under military government prostitution “flourished.” (Greer)

Most brothels required girls to see at least 100 men a day and to work at least 20 days per month.

To speed things along, O’Hara is credited with inventing the ‘bull pen’ system where a single prostitute would work three rooms in rotation (including maid service.)

In one room a man would be undressing, in a second room the prostitute would be having sex, and in the third room the man would be dressing. (The guy had three minutes to achieve release, after which she said ‘aloha’ and was off to the next room while he washed up and got dressed.) (McNeill)

After a few months’ work in a Hotel Street brothel, she had amassed a sizable bankroll. She leased a house near Waikiki Beach with a friend.

“The life of a prostitute is not an easy one, and the stringent rules of the Honolulu Police Department, headed by Chief of Police Gabrielson, left her no more freedom that a prisoner.”

O’Hara broke the rules (often) and ended up getting the regular attention of the Police, including Gabrielson. She was fined, imprisoned and beat black and blue, with two broken ribs.

O’Hara filed a $100,000 lawsuit in 1941 against the Police department for her two broken ribs and black eyes. The lawsuit was dropped, but conflicts with the Police continued.

O’Hara later married a ‘local boy’ and quit the business. She was a prostitute for 13-years, and temporarily was a Madame. She had homes in Waikiki and Pacific Heights.

After leaving the brothels, “(her) only desire (was) to live a useful family life, and help others to live and let live, as one resurrected from the sordid flesh mines of humanity.”

In 1944, she wrote a booklet, ‘My Life as a Honolulu Prostitute.’ She died in 1973. (Lots of information here is from that booklet.)

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