Thanksgiving, 1941

Today, Thanksgiving 2008, we are a country at war. In 1941, we were in an uneasy peace. Rumors of war were rampant. In tea houses and Chinatown gambling parlors in Honolulu, bets were being taken as to when it would break out and where. The safest bet was that Japan would attack at Christmas, but in the Philippines not Hawaii.

Preparations for war were beginning to be put in place. A year earlier, on November 12, 1940, Governor Poindexter, drew the first numbers of the military draft lottery at Iolani Palace. On December 7, 1940, the Navy moved to its new base at Kaneohe.

In January 1941, the Department of Agriculture was asked to be in charge of food storage and distribution in case of war. One month later, all alien-owned (mostly Japanese) tuna boats were impounded by the Department of Justice on the grounds that the boats were falsely registered.

In May, a second terrtory-wide blackout was staged by the U.S. Army. By June a Major Disaster Council was in place; it's first priority was, "for the protective measures for the civilian population of Oahu in case of bombardment." In September, the Japanese government asked the Japanese Consul General in Honolulu for more detailed reports on ships in Pearl Harbor. In October 1941, the U.S. Navy filed suit to condemn 117 acres of land near Pearl City peninsula for the enlargement of the Pearl Harbor naval station.

By November, tension was high between Japan and the U.S. The Japanese government suspended all ship sailings to the United States. The only exception was the Taiyo Maru which made a special trip to Honolulu so that persons stranded in Hawaii or Japan could return to their home country.

On November 27, 1941, both the Army and the Navy commands in Hawaii received a "war warning" dispatch from Washington, D.C. saying "hostile action" can be expected at any moment. But, still, most military expect the attack in the Philippines.

PHOTO: Royal Hawaiian Hotel, 1940