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May 22, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kīlauea Military Camp

What once began as an idea by Hilo Board of Trade members for a training ground for the National Guard and an Army “vacation and health recruiting station” has become one of Hawaii’s most unique resorts for the military. (KMC)

Let’s look back.

In 1898, Lorrin Thurston owner of Volcano House and head of the Hawai‘i Promotion Committee (forerunner to the Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau) worked closely with the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company to create an excursion business from Honolulu to his hotel at Kīlauea.

Although he sold his interest in Volcano House to hotelier George Lycurgus (1858–1960) in 1904, Thurston continued to promote Kīlauea and Hawai‘i’s other natural sites.

He helped with the establishment of the Hawaiʻi National Park, an entity to encompass both Kīlauea and Haleakalā.  Hawai‘i’s new National Park, established August 1, 1916, was the thirteenth in the new system and the first in a US territory.  (Chapman)

Besides its volcanic interest, the park is noted for its fine examples of tropical vegetation (some forest species being extremely rare;) its native birdlife which is unique in the entire world; its Polynesian archaeology and history; and its character as an international park.  (Edward G Wingate, Superintendent, 1939)

The history of the Park generally mirrors the history of Kīlauea Military Camp (KMC.)

Interest in Kīlauea as a military training and rest area began in September 1911, when Companies A and F, Twentieth Infantry, arrived. They were followed two years later by one hundred men from Company D, First Infantry, who camped near the Volcano House.  (Nakamura)

Thurston helped negotiate a lease for about 50-acres of land from Bishop Estate; trustees held the lease (they included Ex officio the Commander of the Army Department of Hawaii; Ex officio the Commanding General of the National Guard of Hawaii; Lieut Col John T. Moir, National Guard, Island of Hawaiʻi; GH Vicars of Hilo and LA Thurston of Honolulu and Hilo.)

In the early years, to get there, off-island folks took steamer ships to either Hilo or Punaluʻu (from Hilo they caught a train to Glenwood and walked/rode horses to Volcano; one mile west of the Volcano House; a five-mile railroad took passengers to Pahala and then coaches hauled the visitors to the volcano from the Kaʻū side.) Later, the roads opened.

“Tours of all the islands are arranged.  Connected with the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company is the world-famous Volcano House overlooking the everlasting house of fire, as the crater of Halemaʻumaʻu is justly named. “

“A night’s ride from Honolulu and an hour by automobile and you are at the Volcano House in the Hawaii National Park on the Island of Hawaiʻi, the only truly historic caravansary of the Hawaiian Islands.”  (The Mid-Pacific, December 1933)

The Camp is located at an elevation of 4,000-feet, directly on the belt road around the island (the road was later relocated mauka of the Camp.)

KMC greeted its first group of US Army Soldiers from Company A, 2nd Infantry, November 6, 1916. Three buildings for dining and recreation were still unfinished, so the visiting Soldiers were expected to provide their own sleeping tents.

A couple weeks later, November 17, KMC was officially opened, and many Soldiers came to this unique site through 1917.

Encouraged by local boosters, including John Giles and Lorrin Thurston, KMC became a mainstay of the volcano park for the next three decades.  (Chapman)

From the latter part of 1916 into early-1917, the newly designated Kīlauea Military Camp witnessed a steady stream of military units.

Then, WWI broke out and virtually all of the troops in Hawai‘i prior to 1917 had transferred to the continental US, many of them then moving on in succeeding months to the trenches of France and Belgium.  (Chapman)

To keep the place going, school summer programs and Boy Scouts stayed at the camp.  Following WWI, the trustees transferred their KSBE lease to the Park Service.  By late-1921, soldiers on recreation leave started to return to the Camp and the facilities started to expand.

The last major addition to KMC was the provision of an airfield; in 1924, the Army built a landing strip just south of Halemaʻumaʻu (known as Sand Spit Horst.)

However, within a few months an explosive eruption at Halemaʻumaʻu threw boulders onto the site.  (Another runway was built closer to the Camp – it was named Boles Field in honor of the Park’s first Superintendent, Thomas R Boles.)

As part of the original agreement, the Navy built its own rest and recreation camp on a 14-acre parcel adjacent to KMC in 1926. The Navy camp was transferred to KMC’s control in 1935, however, due to a slow resolution of the lease agreement between the Park Service and the Navy.  (KMC)

In 1941 it became an important staging ground for the war. From March to October 1942, KMC became the headquarters for the Twenty-seventh Division of the Army. The troops used the buildings at KMC for quarters and the grounds for training.

The R&R Camp also became an internment camp.  The first detainees arrived in the afternoon of December 7, 1941. Most did not stay at KMC for long, however; within a few months all were transferred to Sand Island on Oʻahu.  (Nakamura)

In June 1942 the Battle of Midway changed the tide of the war, and KMC was again re-activated as a rest and recreation camp, but it also continued to support tactical training of troops. In October 1943, the decision was made to return the Camp to a fully recreational facility.  (Nakamura)

In the postwar period, General Dwight D. Eisenhower stayed for a few days at KMC in 1946.  In 1949, the Army opened KMC to members of all branches of the military.  (Chapman)

On, July 1, 1961, Hawaiʻi National Park’s units were separated and re-designated as Haleakalā National Park and Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.  The relationship between the military and Park Service was not always smooth.

Today, Kīlauea Military Camp is open to all active and retired armed forces, Reserve/National Guard, dependents, other uniformed services, and current and retired Department of Defense civilians, including Coast Guard civilians and sponsored guests.

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Military Tagged With: Hawaii, Hawaii Island, Volcano, Kilauea Military Camp, Internment, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Dwight D Eisenhower, Boles Field, Lorrin Thurston

May 16, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaii and Arkansas

“While we dearly love this country, we realize that it does have many faults; that there are many existing conditions that must be improved; one of these deplorable conditions being racial prejudice.”

“One of the chief advantages of a true democratic state is that each one of us as its citizens can play a part in bringing about changes for the better.” (Betty Kagawa, Valedictory Address, Denson High School; UH Center for Oral History)

Most Japanese immigration occurred between 1885 and 1924.  Relocation centers for Japanese Americans known as Issei (first-generation Japanese in America), Nisei (second generation Japanese in America) and Sansei (third-generation Japanese in America) were the result of a culmination of panic in the aftermath of the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. (Arkansas Heritage)

In March 1942, Executive Order 9102 called for the establishment of the War Relocation Authority (WRA). Supervision of the camps and direction of construction and maintenance and provision of security by the Military Police guard would be under the jurisdiction of the WRA. (Arkansas Heritage)

“We were all concentrated, densely concentrated, solely based on race,” George Takei, a former resident of the Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Center said. “We happened to look like the people that bombed Pearl Harbor, and put in prison camps simply because of our race.” (Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Center)

“I was born sixteen years ago in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. I am the eldest of a family of five children. This is the first time in my life that I have been away from the islands. . . . Before I came here I was attending Roosevelt High School.”

“I had a pet dog whose name was Duke. . . . Before we came here I had to give him up because we weren’t allowed to bring any pets here. Due to the war, we were evacuated here and I hope that we will be able to return to the islands when war is over.” (Betty Kagawa; UH Center for Oral History)

Though they were officially known as relocation centers, these areas were more commonly referred to as concentration, internment, or incarceration camps.  With watch towers, barbed wire, and armed guards, it isn’t difficult to see why these unofficial titles seem more fitting than “relocation center.” (Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Center)

Arkansas was chosen by the War Relocation Authority as one of the states that would be home to these internees. Arkansas was chosen because of its position deep in the interior far from the West Coast.

There were also nine abandoned Civilian Conservation Corps camps in the state that could potentially be utilized.  Two camps were established in 1942; Rohwer in Desha County and Jerome in Chicot and Drew counties.  (Arkansas Heritage)

Construction of the relocation center at Jerome began in late July 1942, and the first group of evacuees arrived October 6, 1942. The camp was also known as Denson as that was the name of the post office. (Arkansas Heritage)

Jerome was the last of the centers to be completed so by the time internees began arriving from assembly centers in Stockton, Fresno and Santa Anita, California, they had already been in custody for at least four months. It took four days to reach Arkansas from those assembly centers, traveling on trains with blackened or shaded windows and armed guards. (Arkansas Heritage)

Located in southeastern Arkansas, Jerome had the distinction of receiving over eight hundred inmates directly from Hawai‘i, the largest contingent sent to any WRA camp.  (Densho)

School personnel were among the first to arrive at Jerome, first setting up shop in an office in Little Rock on August 18, 1942.  The education program at Jerome was similar to other WRA camps with regard to scope, offering K–12, preschool, and adult/night school programs. But due to the camp’s late start and early closing, there were only two school years.

As at other WRA camps, the teachers at Jerome were typically white teachers hired from the outside. About three-quarters of the white teachers were from Arkansas, as were both school principals.

The white teacher staff was augmented with inmate ‘assistant teachers,’ all of whom had some college training, but most of whom lacked experience. (Densho)  “Later on we found out the school really was one of the very good ones. So, apparently we had good teachers.” (Edith Kashiwabara Mikami, UH Center for Oral History)

Enrollment peaked in the summer of 1943, just prior to segregation, which was also the end of the first school year. At that point, the elementary school had 936 students, the junior high school 571, the senior high school 688, the kindergarten 145, and the nursery school 249. Night school attendance peaked at 1,895 as of May 1, 1943. (Densho)

One of the most common struggles for Japanese internees was finding ways to earn money.  Many internees continued to make payments on businesses and properties that had been left behind, and every family needed to buy basic necessities such as shoes and clothing.

Internees who had previously worked jobs such as electricians, teachers, mechanics, and butchers were able to continue working in these positions within the camp, though their wages were significantly reduced.  Others had to pick up new trades, including laboring in the fields to grow food for the barracks’ kitchens.

The harsh communal lifestyle had a negative impact on the traditional Japanese family structure, compromising parental authority and damaging the ties between family members.

Even though many were constantly struggling to make a living in this new reality they had been forced into, the internees left a positive mark on the local community.

They showed the locals new methods of crop irrigation, impressed teachers with their hard-work in the classroom, and created distinctive art pieces that reflected their Japanese heritage. (Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Center)

While the camp’s security had initially been quite intense, it gradually began to lessen until only one officer and 13 guards remained in 1944.  This trend of decreased security continued and in January of 1945 the closure of all the relocation camps was announced.

The internee evacuation began during the summer of 1945 and on November 30, the Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Center was officially closed by the War Relocation Authority.  (Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Center)

A unique aspect of Jerome and Rohwer was the connection to Nisei soldiers training at Camps Robinson and Shelby. The 100th Infantry Battalion , made up of Nisei soldier from Hawai‘i, and later, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team , trained at the latter, which was about 250 miles southeast of Jerome.

In response to requests by the soldiers to visit the camp, a group of inmates, led by Mary Nakahara (later known as Yuri Kochiyama ), Mary Tsukamoto , and Amy Murayama started a USO. The USO formally opened on June 21, 1943.

From July 1943 until March 1944, busloads of soldiers would arrive every weekend for a Saturday night dance, and Sunday ochazuke (tea poured over a bowl of cooked rice) party.

In addition to the organized groups, individual soldiers dropped in from the two nearby camps as well as from eleven other army camps. By April of 1944, the peak of activity, some 400 to 600 visitors a week were coming to the USO. (Densho)

“They want to come to see Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i people, so every week until they shipped out they came,” Masamizu Kitajima recalled. “And they would always bring presents for the kids and for us kids and stuff like that.” (Densho)

“I’m proud of (the nisei soldiers’) attitude, their loyalty. Especially, their parents are behind barbed wire, but gee, they fought for their country. I can’t believe they would fight for their country (in spite of the unjust treatment by their own government).”

“The 442nd [Regimental Combat Team] and all that. I feel (strongly) that we must teach the next generation and (preserve) this important part of history. Don’t forget this is what happened.”  (Shirley Ozu Iwatani, UH Center for Oral History)

© 2025 Ho‘okuleana LLC

Filed Under: Military, Prominent People Tagged With: Arkansas, War Relocation Authority, Rohwer, Jerome, Hawaii, Internment

August 8, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Honouliuli

The island of Oʻahu is divided into 6 moku (districts), consisting of: ‘Ewa, Kona, Koʻolauloa, Koʻolaupoko, Waialua and Waiʻanae. These moku were further divided into 86 ahupua‘a (land divisions within a moku.)

‘Ewa was divided into 12-ahupua‘a, consisting of (from east to west): Hālawa, ‘Aiea, Kalauao, Waimalu, Waiau, Waimano, Mānana, Waiʻawa, Waipi‘o, Waikele, Hōʻaeʻae and Honouliuli.

‘Ewa was at one time the political center for O‘ahu chiefs. This was probably due to its abundant resources that supported the households of the chiefs, particularly the many fishponds around the lochs of Puʻuloa (“long hill,) better known today as Pearl Harbor. (Cultural Surveys)

Each had fisheries in the harbor, floodplains with irrigated kalo and fishponds, and interior (lower kula valley streams/gulches) and mountain forests.  One of these, Honouliuli, had a large coastal area, including what it is typically referred to as the “ʻEwa Plains.”  (Kirch)

Honouliuli includes lands extending from the mountains, to the watered plains where loʻi kalo (taro pond fields) and loko ia (fishponds) were developed, to the arid plains and rich fisheries on the ocean. Along the ocean-fronted coast of Honouliuli are noted places in lore and ancient life, such as Keahi, Kupaka, Keoneula (Oneula), Kualakai, Kalaeloa and Koʻolina.  (Maly)

Honouliuli (dark bay) includes a wide plain back of Puʻuloa (Pearl Harbor) and Keahi (a point west of Pearl Harbor) where the homeless, friendless ghosts were said to wander about. These were the ghosts of people who were not found by their family ʻaumakua or gods and taken home with them, or had not found the leaping places where they could leap into the nether world.  (Pukui)

In 1793, Captain George Vancouver described this area as desolate and barren:  “From the commencement of the high land to the westward of Opooroah (Puʻuloa – Pearl Harbor) was … one barren rocky waste, nearly destitute of verdure, cultivation or inhabitants, with little variation all to the west point of the island. …”

In 1839, Missionary EO Hall described the area between Pearl Harbor and Kalaeloa as follows: “Passing all the villages (after leaving the Pearl River) at one or two of which we stopped, we crossed the barren desolate plain”.  (Robicheaux)  In the 1880s, these lands were being turned over to cattle grazing and continued through the early-1900s.

Nearby Moku ʻUmeʻume (Ford Island) provided pili grass for house thatching. Ewa’s house builders gathered their pili grass for house thatching here until the time came when foreign shingles were introduced, then thatching was discontinued.

It was also covered with kiawe trees; it was noted that the kiawe forests there and the Honouliuli region supplied much of the fuel for kitchen fires in Honolulu.

Reported in 1898, a few fishermen and some of their families built shanties by the shore where they lived, fished and traded their catch for taro at ‘Ewa.  Their drinking water was taken from nearby ponds, and it was so brackish that other people could not stand to drink it. (Cameron; Maly)

James Campbell, who arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1850, ended up in Lāhainā and started a sugar plantation there in 1860 (later known as Pioneer Mill.)  He also started to acquire lands in Oʻahu, Maui and the island of Hawaiʻi.

In 1876, he purchased approximately 15,000-acres at Kahuku on the northernmost tip of Oʻahu from HA Widemann and Julius L Richardson. In 1877, he acquired from John Coney 41,000-acres of ranch land at Honouliuli.

Many critics scoffed at the doubtful value of his Honouliuli purchase. But Campbell envisioned supplying the arid area with water and commissioned California well-driller James Ashley to drill a well on his Honouliuli Ranch.

In 1879, Ashley drilled Hawaiʻi’s first artesian well; James Campbell’s vision had made it possible for Hawaiʻi’s people to grow sugar cane on the dry lands of the ʻEwa Plain.

“At 240 feet the water commenced to overflow. The bore was continued to 273 feet, the flow increasing and coming to rise from one-half to two-thirds of an inch crown above the pipe, 7 inches in diameter.  This success was a happy surprise to the community. (There was) a sheet of pure water flowing like a dome of glass from all sides of the well casing, and continuing to flow night and day, without diminution.”  (Congressional Record, 1881)

What they discovered was vast reservoirs of artesian water; the groundwater here is composed of a freshwater lens that generally moves toward the ocean but is impeded by a wedge of caprock that overlies the volcanic rock near the coast.  (Nellist, Bauer)

When the first well came in at Honouliuli the Hawaiians named it “Waianiani” (crystal waters.)  (Nellist) The ʻEwa Plain has been irrigated with ground water since 1890. By 1930, Ewa Plantation had drilled 70 artesian wells to irrigate cane lands; more were drilled later.

It was some years after the first artesian wells were brought in before there was a general understanding of the formation of the coastal caprock and its vital importance in the creation and functioning of the artesian reservoirs.

Discovery of artesian water at Honouliuli was beyond question the most important single contribution to the development of Oʻahu and Honolulu as we know the island and city today.  (Nellist)  (The flow from the well continued for 60-years until it was sealed by the City and County of Honolulu in 1939.)

In 1889, Campbell leased about 40,000-acres of land for fifty years to BF Dillingham (of Oʻahu Railway and Land Co;) after several assignments and sub-leases, about 7,860-acres of Campbell land ended up with Ewa Planation.

By 1923, Ewa Plantation was the first sugar company in the world to raise ten tons of sugar per acre and, by 1933, the plantation produced over 61,000-tons of sugar a year.

Ewa Plantation was considered one of the most prosperous plantations in Hawaiʻi and in 1931 a new 50-year lease was executed, completing the agreement with Oʻahu Railway and Land Company and beginning an association with Campbell Estate.

By 1936, ʻEwa Plantation Company was the first plantation to have a fully mechanized harvesting operation and by 1946 tests were made to convert the hauling of cane from railroads to large trucks.

During WWII, Japanese Americans were put in internment camps in at least eight locations on Hawaiʻi; one of those sites was at Honouliuli Gulch.  The forced removal of these individuals began a nearly four-year odyssey to a series of camps in Hawaiʻi and on the continental United States.

They were put in these camps, not because they had been tried and found guilty of something, but because either they or their parents or ancestors were from Japan and, as such, they were deemed a “threat” to national security.

In 1962, Castle and Cooke purchased majority control of ʻEwa Plantation Company stock and in 1970 ʻEwa Plantation Company merged with Oʻahu Sugar Company in Waipahu (the ʻEwa mill closed in the mid-1970s after the sale; the mill was demolished in 1985.)

Campbell became known by the Hawaiians as “Kimo Ona-Milliona” (James the Millionaire).  Despite his success in sugar, his interests turned to other matters, primarily ranching and real estate.

When James Campbell died on April 21, 1900, the Estate of James Campbell was created as a private trust to administer his assets for the benefit of his heirs (in 2007, the James Campbell Company succeeded the Estate of James Campbell.) The Estate played a pivotal role in Hawaiʻi history, from the growth of sugar plantations to the growing new City of Kapolei.

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Place Names, Economy, Prominent People, General Tagged With: Hawaii, Oahu, Honouliuli, Pearl Harbor, James Campbell, Internment, Ewa, Ewa Plantation, Puuloa

December 8, 2021 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

R&R Facility to Prison

A century after Captain James Cook’s arrival in Hawaiʻi, sugar plantations started to dominate the Hawai‘i landscape. Hawai‘i’s economy turned toward sugar in the decades between 1860 and 1880; these twenty years were pivotal in building the plantation system.

However, a shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in number and size) sugar plantations became a challenge.  The only answer was imported labor.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed ‘An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,’ a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

There were three big waves of workforce immigration: Chinese 1852; Japanese 1885; and Filipinos 1905.  Several smaller, but substantial, migrations also occurred: Portuguese 1877; Norwegians 1880; Germans 1881; Puerto Ricans 1900; Koreans 1902 and Spanish 1907.

In March 1881, King Kalākaua visited Japan during which he discussed with Emperor Meiji Hawaiʻi’s desire to encourage Japanese nationals to settle in Hawaiʻi.

Kalākaua’s meeting with Emperor Meiji improved the relationship of the Hawaiian Kingdom with the Japanese government and an economic depression in Japan served as motivation for Japanese agricultural workers to move from their homeland.  (Nordyke/Matsumoto)

The first 943-government-sponsored, Kanyaku Imin, Japanese immigrants to Hawaiʻi arrived in Honolulu on February 8, 1885.  Subsequent government approval was given for a second set of 930-immigrants who arrived in Hawaii on June 17, 1885.

With the Japanese government satisfied with treatment of the immigrants, a formal immigration treaty was concluded between Hawaiʻi and Japan on January 28, 1886. The treaty stipulated that the Hawaiʻi government would be held responsible for employers’ treatment of Japanese immigrants.

The Issei (first generation) were born in Japan and emigrated to Hawai‘i from 1885 to 1924 (when Congress stopped all legal migration.)  (The Immigration Act of 1924 (aka Johnson-Reed Act) limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the US through a national origins quota. It completely excluded immigrants from Asia.  (State Department))

The sugar industry came to maturity by the turn of the century; the industry peaked in the 1930s. Hawaiʻi’s sugar plantations employed more than 50,000 workers and produced more than 1-million tons of sugar a year; over 254,500-acres were planted in sugar.

Like the other ethnic immigrant groups, the Issei worked on sugar and pineapple plantations.  The children of the Issei were the Nisei, the second generation in Hawaiʻi.  They are the first generation of Japanese descent to be born and receive their entire education in America, learning Western values and holding US citizenship.

Over time, many Issei and Nisei moved to Honolulu and other developing urban centers. The alien land laws encouraged urbanization since non-citizens could not own land. Many of the Issei became independent wage earners, merchants, shopkeepers, and tradesmen. They sought and began to achieve upward mobility.  (Nordyke and Matsumoto)

On July 7, 1937, Japan invaded China to initiate the war in the Pacific; while the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, unleashed the European war.

If the US and Japan went to war, Japanese in Hawai‘i were seen as potentially dangerous.  Both the Army and the FBI gathered data on Japanese residents in the late-1930s.

Fingerprinting and registering of aliens began in August of 1940 under provisions of the federal Alien Registration Act; some 6,000 aliens in Hilo alone were registered and fingerprinted beginning in September of 1940.  (Farrell)

During the Fall of 1941 diplomatic relations between the US and Japan, which had been steadily deteriorating, took a sudden turn for the worse.

As to Hawaiʻi, War Department message of November 27, 1941 read as follows: “Negotiations have come to a standstill at this time. No diplomatic breaking of relations and we will let them make the first overt act. You will take such precautions as you deem necessary to carry out the Rainbow plan [a war plan]. Do not excite the civilian population.”  (Proceedings of Army Pearl Harbor Board)

An FBI memo, dated December 4, 1941, referenced the “custodial detention list,” a listing of people who should be arrested in the event of outbreak of war. (Farrell)

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US at Pearl Harbor. At that time, Hawaii’s Japanese population was about 158,000, more than one-third of the territory’s total population. (Cohen)

Less than 4 hours after the Pearl Harbor attack, territorial governor Joseph B Poindexter invoked the Hawaii Defense Act giving him absolute wartime power in Hawai‘i.

By mid-afternoon (3:30 pm) the decision to place the territory under martial law was made, suspending the writ of habeas corpus and placing control of Hawaiʻi under Lieutenant General Walter C. Short, who became Military Governor.

The War Department, working under the authority of martial law, ordered that everyone on the list be interned. (Moniz Nakamura)

Kilauea Military Camp (KMC) at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (then known as Hawaii National Park) had been a quiet military recreation facility. By the end of the day on December 7th, it became a detainment camp.

For the island of Hawai‘i, the FBI’s detention list included a total of 82 individuals: 67 consular agents, 3 priests, and 12 “others” (business leaders and other important people in the Japanese American community). (Farrell)

The local police, with assistance from the FBI and Army Intelligence, immediately rounded up and detained the “suspicious aliens” – most of them prominent figures in the Japanese community.  (Chapman)

Traveling under police custody in several cars, they passed the Hilo entrance of the park and proceeded to KMC where they were held under military guard in the small camp stockade and in nearby barracks. Within a few days, others had joined this group, which eventually expanded to approximately 130 men.

The detainees included prominent Japanese residents from Hilo and outlying planation areas, many of them familiar to both military and NPS personnel. Many were teachers; others were prominent business or community figures. (Chapman)

“At Kilauea, internees had to walk among soldiers armed with bayonets. While food was plentiful and nutritious, the dignity of the people was taken away. Internees were constantly accompanied by soldiers – even to the latrine”.

At mealtime, inmates lined up to go to the mess hall, which was across the open ground from their barracks, between ten guards with guns and fixed bayonets (Hoshida; Farrell)

In the mess hall, prisoners were initially surprised by the bounty of food that was available to them and as detainee Myoshu Sasai reported, “we could eat all that we wanted to. If they ran out of something, all we had to do was to raise our hand.”

A long serving counter separated the kitchen from the mess hall. Inmates picked up stainless serving trays and silverware and walked single file in front of the serving tables while waiting for kitchen personnel to serve them food, then sat six to wooden tables and benches.  (Nakamura; Densho)

A sense of camaraderie developed among the inmates as noted by inmate Yoshio “George” Hoshida who observed that “here, sharing together the same fate in this time of emergency, they were brought together closer as humans on equal plane and closer comradeship.” (Nakamura; Densho)

For one hour every day, detainees were allowed outside for exercise. Inmates also occupied their days reading magazines and books, walking around, or writing letters. For many, letter writing was the only way of communicating with their families and maintaining personal ties.

Although letters were censored with officials cutting out any account of the camp, Hoshida recalled that “letter writing became the main consolation and receiving them was a source of great pleasure to be looked forward to each day.”  (Nakamura; Densho)

Building 34, now the Crater Rim Café, Lava Lounge and post office, was used as the internee barracks. Building 35, now the recreation center, was built as an enlisted men’s mess hall and converted to a dormitory in 1919. It was used as the internee mess hall in 1943, but became the recreation hall in 1945. (Farrell)

Internee hearings were held in the Federal Building on Waianuenue Avenue in downtown Hilo. Because the hearings lasted several days, it is probable that internees were held overnight at the Old Police Station, on Kalākaua Street and directly across Kalākaua Park from the Federal Building. (Farrell)

By mid-February 1942, the military government determined that under the Geneva Convention interned aliens could not be held in a combat zone.

On February 15, authorities announced that immediate family members could visit. In anticipation of an imminent transfer to another facility, families were advised to bring warm clothes and that each internee could possess $50.

Noting that the internees were not prisoners of war, the authorities soon began the process of relocation to Sand Island or eventual transfer to the continental United States. The first group of 106 internees departed Kīlauea on March 6; the last group of 25 left on May 12. (Chapman)

In all, between 1,200 and 1,400 local Japanese in Hawai’i were interned, along with about 1,000 family members.  By contrast, Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, authorized the mass exclusion and detention of all Japanese Americans living in the West Coast states, resulting in the eventual incarceration of 120,000 people.

The detainees were never formally charged and granted only token hearings.  Many of the detainees’ sons served with distinction in the US armed forces, including the legendary 100th Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team and Military Intelligence Service.

Following the departure of Japanese inmates in 1942, in June 1944, an addition to KMC was built on the west side, in the area that is now the motor pool. These facilities would serve as a prisoner of war (POW) camp for Koreans and Okinawans who had been brought to the US from islands captured from the Japanese. (Moniz Nakamura)

Military authorities assigned the POWs to maintenance work around the camp. The prisoners generally worked without supervision, mostly on landscape projects and other maintenance work. (Chapman)

The current chain link fence around Tours & Transportation (Bldg 84), Housekeeping (Bldg 81) and Fire & Paramedic Services (Bldg 59) follows the same footprint as the outer wire of the POW camp enclosure. (KMC Walking Tour Narrative)

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Filed Under: Military Tagged With: Japanese, WWII, Kilauea Military Camp, Internment, KMC

July 10, 2019 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Japanese Internment

During World War II, Japanese Americans were incarcerated in at least eight locations in 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 Kauai.

The forced removal of these individuals began a nearly four-year odyssey to a series of camps in Hawaiʻi and on the continental United States.

They were put in these camps, not because they had been tried and found guilty of something, but because either they or their parents or ancestors were from Japan and, as such, they were deemed a “threat” to national security.

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%.

By contrast, Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, authorized the mass exclusion and detention of all Japanese Americans living in the West Coast states, resulting in the eventual incarceration of 120,000 people.

The detainees were never formally charged and granted only token hearings. Many of the detainees’ sons served with distinction in the US armed forces, including the legendary 100th Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team and Military Intelligence Service.

During the war, there was a Hawaii Defense Act, Order No. 5 that stated “all aliens were forbidden from possessing weapons, firearms, explosives short-wave radio receiving sets, transmitting sets, cameras, or maps of any United States military or naval installation.”

They could not travel by air, change residence or occupation or move without written permission from the provost marshal.

On December 8, 1941, the first detention camp was set up on Sand Island. Several factors made Sand Island a logical place for establishment of the first detention camp. Geographically, it was an island immediately adjacent to the city of Honolulu in the Honolulu Harbor.

The Territorial Quarantine Hospital had been located on Sand Island and it had housing, food prep and administrative facilities.

Within one week of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the FBI detained 370 Japanese, 98 German and 14 Italians. Almost all of the Japanese detainees were men; of the European detainees, many were women. The European and Japanese internees were segregated.

The first POW of the war (Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki, of the captured Japanese submarine that beached at Waimanalo) was also interned at Sand Island.

Each compound operated its own mess and maintained its own sanitary and internal administrations. The detainees supplied their own recreational activities, such as softball and volleyball games. Each compound had its own spokesman.

While most of the internees were residents of Oʻahu, there were Japanese detained on the Neighbor Islands.

On Kauai internees were crowded into the county jail. According to Gwen Allen (Hawaii War Years), the December 12, 1941 issue of the Kauai newspaper reported that “the men are building double decker bunks.” On the Big Island, detainees were interned at Kilauea Military Camp at Volcano.

Restrictions at each were different. On Kau‘i, after two days of war, a newspaper announcement invited families to call on detainees any day between 1 pm and 3 pm and they were allowed to take clean laundry and simple Japanese food.

On Maui, each detainee was given a questionnaire asking if they had any animals that needed feeding and other care, and if so, where can they be found. On the Big Island, there was no public visiting until February 14, 1942.

For some O‘ahu internees, they began their detention at the Immigration Station at Fort Armstrong and were then moved to Sand Island. Internees at Sand Island lived in tents until wooden barracks were built.

“Until books and other materials were allowed, the internees passed the time by smoothing sea shells for necklaces by rolling them on the concrete floors.”

In March 1942, Sand Island closed. Some detainees were sent to Honouliuli Internment camp.

Because arrests and detentions continued through the war, the community remained on edge, fearful as to who might be next. Japanese culture became equated with Japanese political affiliation, and Japanese language clothing and customs suddenly disappeared.

Though some detainees were released after a short imprisonment, the majority were detained for the duration of the war, with most eventually transferred to camps on the continental United States, for a period approaching four years.

Most eventually returned to Hawai‘i after the war.

In 2006, President Bush signed the Camp Preservation Bill (HR 1492), which authorized $38 million in funding for the preservation of former World War II confinement sites.

In part, the intent is that the Honouliuli site become a public historical park where the Hawai‘i internees story can be shared with future generations.

The fact that the internment did happen here in the Hawaiʻi are something to never forget.

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JapaneseAmericansChildrenPledgingAllegiance1942
JapaneseAmericansChildrenPledgingAllegiance1942
Honouliuli-
Honouliuli-
Honouliuli_Camp
Honouliuli_Camp
Honouliuli_Camp
Honouliuli_Camp
Sand_Island-Gate-Fence
Sand_Island-Gate-Fence
Sand_Island-camp
Sand_Island-camp
Sand_Island-Aerial
Sand_Island-Aerial
Sand Island-Internee tents shortly after the camp opened in December, 1941
Sand Island-Internee tents shortly after the camp opened in December, 1941
Sand Island, 1946. What remains of the internment camp can be seen in the middle portion of the image.
Sand Island, 1946. What remains of the internment camp can be seen in the middle portion of the image.
Kilauea Military Camp, 1942
Kilauea Military Camp, 1942
Hawai‘i internee group at Sante Fe camp, 1944
Hawai‘i internee group at Sante Fe camp, 1944
Ansel_Adams,_Baseball_game_at_Manzanar,_1943
Ansel_Adams,_Baseball_game_at_Manzanar,_1943
Sand_Island-Camp-Layout
Sand_Island-Camp-Layout
japanese-internment-poster
japanese-internment-poster

Filed Under: General, Military Tagged With: Hawaii, Japanese, Honouliuli, WWII, Kilauea Military Camp, Internment, Sand Island, Detention Camp

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