Hawaii's war memorials offer a way to learn history and honor the nation's heroes

National Cemetery of the Pacific

In just five days America will commemorate December 7, that date that President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared a "date that will live in infamy," the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, the catalyst for America entering World War II.  In Hawaii the war memorials continue to offer a way to learn history and honor the nation's heroes.

A visit to Pearl Harbor is a must for all visitors to Hawaii, but along with that one must visit the National Cemetery of the Pacific and Fort DeRussy to round out a way to experience beauty mixed with honor and the appreciation of America's history during critical times and the sacrifices great men made.

The older folks of Hawaii still talk about what they were doing when Pearl Harbor was hit unexpectedly by Japanese planes carrying bombs that destroyed virtually the entire U.S. fleet at the time. One of these folks is Constance Yeung who carried her baby in her arms, screaming as she saw the sky light up in the distance, as if the mountains had caught fire. She was standing near the edge of the ocean, between Waikiki and the downtown area, waiting for her friend to pick her up to arrange their trip back to California, as they had just traveled to Hawaii so Yeung could show off her new baby. But the friend never came, and Yeung was to spend many months in the islands in the chaos yet to come.

I learned Yeung's story as one learns from passers by over 28 years I lived in Hawaii. The story of Pearl Harbor has those many personal sides, but so do the other historic sites associated with World War II. One of these sites is Fort DeRussy, part of the Waikiki area tourists wander through but often don't understand how significant a place it has become.

This grand expanse of lawn, monuments, flowers and foliage extends from Kalakaua to the edge of the ocean, hotels looming on all sides. The visitor strolls down walkways in the sunshine, almost always present as Waikiki is the sunny part of the islands. But one must linger for those special moments, because here are memorialized those men who made the ultimate sacrifice.

I knew some of those men of the units still living, members of the 442nd and 100th Japanese military units, as a sub-contractor counselor for the Veterans Administration in Hawaii. These were men of Japanese ancestry who volunteered to fight the Japanese. They were often second generation people, some with families placed in internment camps by a nation fearful that the island Japanese were spies. Some were, but many were loyal American citizens. These sons of America with skin the butter color distinguishing them as different, stood up bravely and said, "I will go" to what for them could often mean terrible cruelty and death. For if caught by a member of the Axis powers, that included Germany, Italy and Japan, they would be tortured badly, having turned against one of their own kind during war. They became the most decorated of all military units during World War II.

Bronze plaques now placed near the Kalakaua side of Fort DeRussy speak a few words about these brave men, but words are never enough for men whose deeds were as great as these men did six decades ago. Men are dead or dying, old men, a few still walking among the citizens of Hawaii, modestly never revealing their sacrifices. The visitor thinks of those sacrifices as a walk is taken from the busy Kalakaua down the pathways, winding their way to the beach side hotels, like the Outrigger Reef. One wonders what those survivors among those men memorialized here think too when they walk these winding paths.

The National Cemetery of the Pacific stands like a citadel upon the mountain, Punchbowl and Tantalus there where lovers park and runners climb the hills. It poses on that mountain, majestically surveying everything, like a grandfather looking over a family dutifully. It is here men and women of the Pacific are buried. These people also include those who have sacrificed in war and other ways, like Ellison Onizuka Azuna, one of the astronauts of the Challenger that exploded killing everyone more than 25 years ago.

A visit to Hawaii is not complete for anyone who wants to understand the meaning of what these islands bring to all Americans, mainlander and local alike. The islands are a paradise for sure, but they also represent that far-off place where the history of America was changed and like happened with the bombing of the World Trade Towers will never be the same again. The beauty, history, majesty and memory of Hawaii mingle together at a cemetery high upon a hill, in ships that lay buried by the sea, and the shining walkways of a park that allows one to consider the sacrifices made by those who gave it all.

Reflections on December 7

[caption id="attachment_21765" align="alignleft" width="300"] Bombing of the USS Shaw at Pearl Harbor[/caption]

Carol Forsloff---December 7 was labeled as the day "that shall live in infamy" by Franklin Roosevelt following the attack on Pearl Harbor  in 1941.  But the day did not just catapult America into war with Japan.  It was a watershed moment that set a new direction and attitude for the country, a division between the era of the baby boomers and those born before and during the war.

Much has been written about the needs, drives and motivations of the baby boomer generation.  Those characteristics were forged from the child-rearing practices set by Benjamin Spock and the idea that having lost time and the lives of many young men during war that those who fought that war would make sure their children would be safe and prosperous.  The decades of depression and war had left an indelible memory in the minds of those folks who lived through those years as adults.  It was a memory of a time and events they wanted to prevent from happening again to their children and grandchildren.

As the memories of the war began to fade, and new generations came along, what was forgotten was the community spirit that drove the nation, the pride in its strength and survival and its optimism once the war was over.  And those who fought and died during World War II are fading in numbers to the extent there are too few to serve as reminders of the sacrifice of the Greatest Generation.  These were people who acted on the premise that John F. Kennedy was to reiterate during his Presidency of asking not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

The entitlement generations that followed World War II came about as the older baby boomers passed along those notions that future generations should not have to suffer the calamities that had occurred during those war years and before.  On the other hand, the notion of service and earning one's place in life and in the culture was lost in the mix of having to have it all.

December 7 brought America to a fully-realized leadership in the world community even as it offered a demise of certain special values of offering service, recognizing that calamity is part of the circle of life and that to have it all at the expense of others might not be the right direction for interpersonal growth.  It creates social and political divisions and the need to get ahead to have it all in ways that actually do the culture harm.  Even within families, those born just before or during the war have different values than those born after it, and many of the differences that occur among people have to do with the differences in how children were raised to look at themselves and others.

December 7 ushered in war.  It also brought with it a change in relationships and attitude, some of which is reflected in how we behave today.  It was indeed a day that shall live in infamy for those who experienced the day itself and the years that followed it as well.

12/07 and 9/11 are the days that live in infamy in Hawaii

[caption id="attachment_13621" align="alignleft" width="300"] 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.