Leeward Oahu, where many local residents live who remember both 9/11 and 12/16.[/caption]Carol Forsloff---It was 4 a.m. on September 11, 2001 when people were awakened by friends on the mainland and told about the bombing of the World Trade Towers, a reminder of a December 7, 1941 event, both days "that will live in infamy", as the latter was described by President Roosevelt.
Hawaii is the land mass most distant from any other in the world. So in many ways it is isolated from what goes on in those other places; but the attack on Pearl Harbor was a wake-up call to the US mainland and the local people of Hawaii that the future of the islands remains one intimately linked with that mainland.
The fear that came from those reminiscing earlier times was shown in the faces of the people of Hawaii, as this journalist observed the shops closed and people clustered around television sets in public places and in homes.
No planes flew in or out, as people wondered when they would fly again and if they would be safe to fly at all. This journalist was scheduled to attend a class in California the following day, boldly assuming all would be well despite what had happened on the East Coast. But the realization that indeed the planes had grounded and might not be flying for some time brought a sense of worry, and no little alarm, for being in a place so isolated that no one knew what other problems might otherwise arise.
The military bases were closed where the company I managed had offices and work counseling returning veterans. MP's stood at the gates and turned around the cars lined up to enter the base, then told the passengers no one knew when they would be allowed back in as the nation was on high alert at the prospect of more terrorist attacks and the need for readiness of the troops.
The beaches were empty. The tourists remaining, unable to return home because of the closing of the airport, huddled in hotels, wondering how long they would have to stay in the islands. Some hotels graciously provided a few extras to make the wait more pleasant than it otherwise might have been. And islanders worried about the loss of business and the potential loss of goods transported from the mainland, often basic necessities not available in sufficient quantities to sustain a place so far away from the mainland source.
It was a reminder to people of Hawaii of that other time when no one knew what might happen next. For some it meant a wider war would come, as that prediction came to pass, although in wars fought far away without the international involvement as had happened during World War II. It also reminded everyone that even those who seem to be protected in some isolated fashion can feel the impact of terrorism unexpectedly, as 9/11 and December 16, two days that live in infamy in Hawaii.
