World War II | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

December 9, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Italian POWs

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.

World War II (WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that was underway by 1939 and ended in 1945.

Italy entered World War II on the Axis side on June 10, 1940, as the defeat of France became apparent. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor and the US entered the conflict.

World War II was fought between two sets of partners: the Allies and the Axis. The three principal partners in the Allies alliance were the British Commonwealth, the Soviet Union and the United States; the three principal partners in the Axis alliance were Germany, Italy and Japan.

During World War II, American forces captured 50,000 Italian soldiers and sailors. 5,000 Italian prisoners of war were sent to Hawaiʻi and held at Schofield, Kāneʻohe, Kalihi Valley and Sand Island.

Japanese Americans were also incarcerated in at least eight locations on Hawaiʻi. On December 8, 1941, the first detention camp was set up on Sand Island.

The Sand Island Detention Center held war captives as well as civilians of Japanese, German or Italian ancestry who were under investigation.

This Italian prisoner contingent was highly skilled in construction and engineering, and as a voluntary effort they were used extensively on many construction projects around the island where skilled labor was, at that time, in short supply, particularly around Honolulu Harbor, Sand Island, etc. (Ponza – Army-mil)

“For the most part, the US Army welcomed their labor and skills in construction of needed military facilities.” (Moreo)

“At the end of each day, the Italians would salvage whatever waste materials were about as well as scouring and scooping up cement from spillage.” (Moreo)

With this salvaged material the Italian POWs built buildings and works of art (fountains and statues) at various locations on Oʻahu (these pieces are at Schofield Barracks, Fort Shafter, Sand Island and the Immigration Building.)

The Mother Cabrini Chapel, designed by POW Astori Rebate, “was huge, with an alter, and two large paintings of Mother Cabrini all done by the POWs. The chapel had a full basement for vestments and religious articles. Out in front of the chapel, the area was paved and filled by ‘well constructed benches acting as pews for a thousand or more worshippers.’” (Moreo)

The Italian POWs “decided to dedicate to the memory of Mother Cabrini, who was at that time being considered for sainthood for her earlier good works in the United States, and who was subsequently canonized as the first American saint by the Vatican around the year 1946.” (Ponza -army-mil)

Upon the chapel’s completion, Sunday mass was celebrated every week with the prisoners exiting the prison compound in order to attend the services, seating themselves in the open air pews. As word spread to the adjoining areas, Pearl City, Honolulu, Nanakuli, and even as far as Waikiki, a small group of Catholic worshipers started to drive up to the chapel on Sunday mornings to attend the services.” (Ponza – army-mil) In the way of Kamehameha Highway construction, it was torn down in 1948.

At Sand Island, “(a)t sunset, hundreds of Italians formed a male chorale and sang for an hour. It became widely known and so popular that visitors came in the evening to listen and applaud.” (Moreo)

At Fort Shafter, a fountain crowned with pineapples was designed and crafted by POW Alfredo Giusti, with winged lions and topped with pineapples. (Reportedly, Giusti inscribed his name and address on the north side of the fountain.)

Dedicated to give hope to those without hope, Giusti also crafted two statues, “The Hula Dancer” and “The Bathing Beauty,”) which now sit outside the Coast Guard administration building on Sand Island.

A hard-to-see fountain crafted by the Italians is within the secured Immigration Center on Ala Moana Boulevard (you can see it through a chain link fence on the makai/Fort Armstrong side of the facility.)

The war ended in December 1945 and the Italian POWs were repatriated in 1946, having left some lasting legacies of the war and their time in Hawaiʻi. (Unfortunately, due to increased security concerns, access is restricted at the facilities where their work is located.)

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photo taken: 18JAN2006

Sand_Island_Coast_Guard_Building-Bathing_Beauty-(Burton)

154044_1.tif. VESPUCCI SAILOR>>August 30, 2002/BRUCE APS/BRUCE ASATO PHOTOMarinaio Sergio Cadalano of the Italian Tall Ship Amerigo Vespucci touches a part of the Hula Dancer sculpture that was created by Italian Prisoner of War Alfredo Giusti in 1944 while interned at Sand Island. Cadalano is aboard the Amerigo Vespucci which sailed into Honolulu Harbor last week and will head to Tahiti and New Zealand after departing Honolulu.

Sand_Island_Coast_Guard_Building-Hula_Dancer-Bathing_Beauty-(Burton)

Fountain and landscaping, Honolulu INS building (U.S. Immigration Station)-(Burton)

Fountain INS building (U.S. Immigration Station)-(Burton)

Detail of 1942 Chamber of Commerce tourist map showing Sand-(Burton)

February 19, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Ni‘ihau Incident

When Pearl Harbor was attacked on the morning December 7, 1941, Japanese Airman 1st Class Shigenori Nishikaichi was among the raiders, escorting a group of bombers in his Zero fighter.

During the attacks Shigenori Nishikaichi’s fuel tank was punctured by a bullet. Nishikaichi was able to fly and safely land on Ni‘ihau.

Nishikaichi’s choice of Ni‘ihau was, apparently, not random. The Japanese Imperial Navy wrongly believed the island was uninhabited and had designated it as an emergency landing site.

The Japanese had a submarine standing-by off-shore to rescue any Zeros – but it’s not clear why they ordered it away prematurely, leaving him alone on the island.

Ni‘ihau residents were initially unaware of the Pearl Harbor attack.

Nishikaichi was rescued by Howard Kaleohano who confiscated his pistol and papers, but treated him kindly and took him home to be given a meal.

However, Nishikaichi was apprehended when the gravity of the situation became apparent.

Nishikaichi then sought and received the assistance of three locals of Japanese descent (Yoshio Harada and Ishimatsu & Irene Shintani) in overcoming his captors, finding weapons and taking several hostages.

In the end, Nishikaichi was killed by Niʻihauan Ben Kanahele, who was wounded in the process, and one of Nishikaichi’s accomplices, Harada, committed suicide.

Some believe that single bullet set into motion events that would eventually lead to the US interning more than one-hundred thousand people of Japanese heritage – despite their citizenship – in concentration camps for the remainder World War II.

Novelist William Hallstead argues that the Niʻihau incident had an influence on decisions leading to the Japanese American internment. According to Hallstead, the behavior of Shintani and the Haradas were included in a Navy report.

In the official report, authored by Navy Lieutenant C. B. Baldwin and dated January 26, 1942, Baldwin wrote: “The fact that the two Niʻihau Japanese who had previously shown no anti-American tendencies went to the aid of the pilot when Japan domination of the island seemed possible …”

“… indicate likelihood that Japanese residents previously believed loyal to the United States may aid Japan if further Japanese attacks appear successful.”

The particulars of the case “indicate a strong possibility that other Japanese residents of the Territory of Hawaii, and Americans of Japanese descent …”

“… may give valuable aid to Japanese invaders in cases where the tide of battle is in favor of Japan and where it appears to residents that control of the district may shift from the United States to Japan.” (Baldwin)

Ultimately, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the internment with Executive Order 9066, issued February 19, 1942, which allowed local military commanders to designate “military areas” as “exclusion zones,” from which “any or all persons may be excluded.”

This power was used to declare that all people of Japanese ancestry were excluded from “military areas” and “military zones.”

While the incident at Ni‘ihau may not have led inevitably to the evacuation and internment of Japanese Americans, it is believed to have exerted influence in the investigation that ultimately led to the internment Executive Order.

On February 19, 1976, Executive Order 9066 was rescinded by President Gerald Ford.

In 1988, Congress passed and President Ronald Reagan signed legislation which apologized for the internment on behalf of the U.S. government. The legislation said that government actions were based on “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership”.

The U.S. government eventually disbursed more than $1.6-billion in reparations to Japanese Americans who had been interned and their heirs.

An interesting twist in all of this is that just as the Nishikaichi events ended on Ni‘ihau, a boatload of soldiers – led by a Japanese American, Lt. Jack Mizuha – reached Ni‘ihau.

Mizuha would later serve in a storied Japanese American 100th Battalion unit in Italy, where he was severely wounded. Still later, he would become the first attorney general of the new state of Hawai‘i – and eventually a justice on the state’s Supreme Court.

Ben Kanahele was awarded the Medal of Merit and the Purple Heart and Howard Kaleohano the Medal of Freedom.

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Ni‘ihau Incident – Crashed Japanese Plane

February 25, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Varsity Victory Volunteers

When Pearl Harbor was attacked, Japanese Americans, like everyone else in Hawaii, responded to the emergency. They pitched in with other locals to aid the wounded, sort through the rubble, give blood, and bury the dead. (GoForBroke)

Soon after Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941, leaders of the University of Hawai‘i Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) assembled their student members and ordered them to report for combat duty at the Manoa campus. (100thBattalion)

The ROTC students were assigned to the Hawai‘i Territorial Guard. Their responsibilities included guard duty over utility installations and Iolani Palace, the temporary headquarters for the military governor in charge of martial law in the Hawaiian Islands.

But on January 19, 1942, the Army disbanded the Hawai‘i Territorial Guard – only to reform the unit the following day without its Japanese American soldiers. By the end of March, all Japanese American men of draft age were redesignated as “IV-C” or “enemy aliens.” As enemy aliens, they could not enlist in the armed forces.

Then, on February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt issued an order authorizing the evacuation of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to relocation centers further inland. (ourdocuments-gov)

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%.

However, the mass exclusion and detention of all Japanese Americans living in the West Coast states resulted in the eventual incarceration of 120,000 people.

The former UH ROTC cadets felt deep despair when confronted with such racism. But community leaders convinced the demoralized students to persevere.

The students petitioned the military governor: “Hawaii is our home; the United States is our country. We know but one loyalty and that is to the Stars and Stripes. We wish to do our part as loyal Americans in every way possible, and we hereby offer ourselves for whatever service you may see fit to use us.”

The government’s response was allowing the formation of a volunteer civilian work unit, the Army Corps of Engineers Auxiliary at Schofield Barracks. They identified themselves as the Varsity Victory Volunteers (VVV, also referred to as the “Triple-V”). (100thBattalion)

The group of 155 students worked for nearly a year on a variety of jobs involving heavy labor at Schofield Barracks. In time, the group grew to 169 young men, including some prominent amateur boxers who were recruited off the streets of Honolulu.

When they left campus on February 25, 1942, for their new lives as Army volunteer workers, they had no idea that it would be nearly a year before the US War Department would change their classification as “enemy aliens,” thus preventing any Japanese American from serving in the military. (100thBattalion)

On the Army base, under the direction of Chinese American Lieutenant Richard Lum, Native Hawaiian former football star Tom Kaulukukui, two haole sergeants and civilian supervisor Ralph Yempuku, the young men organized themselves into work teams that painted buildings, constructed field iceboxes for combat units, dug ditches and quarried rocks.

But they also participated in Army life on the base, playing respectably in basketball, football and baseball leagues and competing well in boxing tournaments. They also held their own competitions, including golf and tennis.

Some of the VVV members kept up their studies with instructors brought in for special lectures and by enrolling in some courses providing college credit. Most of their interaction with the regular Army troops at Schofield was fine. (100thBattalion)

“We were civilians, but we were assigned as a unit to the 34th Construction Engineer Regiment. So, in being assigned to them, we did the same work that a US Army Engineer outfit was doing, and well, this called for building up the defenses of Oahu …”

“… from digging ammunition pits to creating new roads in the mountains, repairing bridges, building housing for the troops. One unit was sent up to Kolekole Pass and they upgraded the stone quarry. So, we just did what the US Army Engineers were doing.”

“We were actually Federal Civil Service and we got paid the equivalent of an Army Private, I think that was $90 a month, but a lot of that was taken away for housing and food.”

“So, you know, we were lucky and most of us bought war bonds, so we had only a few bucks left every month and that went on for one year.”

“(T)hese guys are all university kids, but they stopped their education, gave up their education, and are volunteering and doing all this crappy work because that is the only way that they can, you know, show their loyalty.”

“And that, you know, we think, had a dent, an impression on the Secretary of War, because within a month, the announcement came for the formation of the volunteering for the 442.” (Ted Tsukiyama, GoForBroke)

The Varsity Victory Volunteers finally got their chance to fight.

On January 28, 1943, the War Department announced that it was forming the all-Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team and called for 1,500 volunteers from Hawaii. An overwhelming 10,000 men volunteered. The Varsity Victory Volunteers made up the core of the 442nd while other members served in military Intelligence.

At its request, the VVV was inactivated on January 31, 1943, so that its members could volunteer for the Army. Many went on to serve in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. (GoForBroke)

“It was the VVV which marked the turning point in the treatment of the people of Japanese ancestry in this Territory and their acceptance by the rest of the community.”

“What followed afterward – the record of the 100th, the formation of the 442nd and its history of hard-won battles, the less publicized but equally important and impressive record of the interpreter groups, and the work of the civilians on the home front …”

“… was the natural result of the trend which was started in the early months of the war when a group of young men, who numbered at no time more than 170 …”

“… demonstrated to a suspicious and skeptical community that the Americans of Japanese ancestry were every bit as American and every bit as loyal to this country and to her ideals as any other group of Americans, whether they were white, yellow, black, or brown.” (Shigeo Yoshida; Oda)

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Varsity Victory Volunteers-09

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VVV Officers Richard Lum and Tommy Kaulukukui

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December 7, 2015 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

A Dauntless Collides With a Val

Pilot, Ensign John HL Vogt; Radioman-gunner, Third Class Sidney Pierce
Pilot, Petty Officer 2nd Class Koreyoshi Toyama (Sotoyama); Flier 1st Class Hajime Murao

A pair of enemy planes apparently collided on the morning of December 7, 1941 – reports from the scene at the time suggest they also crashed at the same spot on the ʻEwa Plain.

Let’s look back …

In the early morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese pilots flew toward the island of Oʻahu from six aircraft carriers (the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku and Zuikaku;) two attack waves of planes attacked various military installations on Oʻahu (a third group attacked ʻEwa as part of a rear guard action.)

The prearranged coded signal “East wind, rain,” part of the weather forecast broadcast over Radio Tokyo, alerted Japanese Consul General Nagao Kita in Honolulu, and others, that the attack on Pearl Harbor had begun.

The first wave of 183-planes (43-fighters, 49-high-level bombers, 51-dive bombers and 40-torpedo planes) struck its targets at 7:55 am. The second wave of 167-Japanese planes (35-fighters, 54-horizontal bombers and 78-dive bombers) struck Oʻahu beginning at 8:40 am.

Perhaps twenty American fighter planes managed to get off the ground the morning of December 7, 1941. Most of them were shot down, but their actions accounted for six victories in the one-sided aerial battle. (Castagnaro and Padilla)

The USS Enterprise was at sea during the attack, it was shuttling Army Air Force, as well as Navy planes, from West Coast ports to Pearl Harbor, and to outlying detachments on Wake and Guam further west.

She departed on November 28 carrying Marine pilots and their planes to Wake Island, flying them off on December 2 before turning east to return to Pearl Harbor.

Forced to slow by a storm system, which also sheltered the Japanese Combined Fleet advancing on Oʻahu, Enterprise missed her expected return date to Pearl Harbor: December 6. Instead, she was 150-miles west when the Japanese attacked. (CV6-org)

When approaching the Islands, the Enterprise sent out scout dive bombers, which flew in ahead of the ship; unaware of the attack, they were caught in the initial Japanese attack.

One of those was a ‘Dauntless’ manned by Ensign John HL Vogt (pilot) and Third Class Sidney Pierce (radioman-gunner.) Vogt had become separated from his section leader during the Pearl-bound flight in from the carrier; he may have circled off-shore, and then arrived to encounter the dive bombers near ʻEwa. (Cressmand & Wenger)

The Japanese were flying Aichi D3A (Type 99 Navy Dive Bomber – later referred to as ‘Val’ aircraft.) During the Pearl Harbor attack the Japanese dive bombers flew in units of three who looked out for one another.

The Val was the first Japanese aircraft to bomb American targets in WWII. It was the primary dive bomber in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and participated in almost all actions in the war.

One of those was manned by Petty Officer 2nd Class Koreyoshi Toyama (Sotoyama) (pilot) and Flier 1st Class Hajime Murao. Toyama attacked the USS Pennsylvania in Drydock 1. His bomb missed and hit the dock itself. (Cole)

Other than flying over Pearl Harbor, flying back to their aircraft carrier was the second most difficult part of their mission because the air units had to regroup initially over ʻEwa and then proceed to further geographic points – Barbers Point and Kaʻena Point, before heading out to sea northwest of Oʻahu and finding their respective aircraft carriers approximately 200-miles away. (Bond)

Neither of these planes made it back to their respective ships.

One report notes Vogt entered a low altitude dogfight with at least two Japanese planes. He trailed one as best it could until the Japanese plane pulled up sharply and stalled, causing the two to collide in an explosion that brought both plans down. (AECOM)

This was confirmed by Lieutenant Colonel Larkin who saw an American plane and a Japanese plane collide in mid-air a short distance away from the ʻEwa Field. In all probability, Larkin saw the Dauntless collide with a Val. (marines-mil) (Other reports note each was separately shot down.)

The American crew bailed out, but were too low an altitude; both were found dead in the trees when their chutes failed to deploy. Neither of the Japanese crewmen escaped their Val when it crashed. (Cressmand & Wenger)

According to several reports, the two planes ended up in the same spot, at what is today the vicinity of the Hoakalei Golf Course club house. (Bond)

“Investigation disclosed two of our fliers, Ensign JHB Vogt, USNR, and Pierce Sidney, RM 3c, both of the USS Enterprise, were casualties. Two Japanese pilots, both badly burned, were also in the wreck.” (Milz)

Toyama’s two wingmen flew over the crash site, possibly trying to determine if either of the Japanese crew had somehow made it out of the burning crash. They then made a strafing pass before flying away. (Lots of information here from Bond)

The image shows the crash site on the ʻEwa Plain (note the two Japanese support planes circling the site.) (Photographed by Staff Sergeant Lee Embree from a US Army 38th Reconnaissance Squadron B-17E that arrived over Oahu during the Japanese attack. (navy-mil, notation by Bond)

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