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Appendix: Notes for Civilian Dead

Civilian Dead End Notes

These notes were meant for the book manuscript. That manuscript was heavily cited. While there is no correlation to any particular statement on the blog, it will give the researcher a starting point on the topic.


Endnotes:
1. There is no agreed upon number of civilians who died. The range is between 35 and 71. The National Park Service lists 48 civilian dead at the Peal Harbor Memorial. See Appendix for list of Civilian Dead. See also: Hawaii War Records Depository Catalog No. 12, dated January 15, 1950.
2. Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 7, 1941, 2nd Extra, p. 1.
3. Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 7, 1941, 3rd Extra, p. 1
4. The Honolulu Star Bulletin’s December 9, 1941 headline was “Food Stores Open Tomorrow.” The Honolulu Advertiser did not publish a newspaper on December 7, 1941 due to jammed presses. (See: Chapter “The Press” and Honolulu Advertiser, December 8, 1941, p. 1)
5. University of Hawai`i at Manoa. Ethnic Studies Oral History Project. Kalihi: A Place of Transition. Honolulu: Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai`i at Manoa, p. 934-958. Tape Number 11-14-1-83, Interview by Michiko Kodama, December 29, 1983.
6. Ibid. Tape Number 11-16-2-84, Interview by, by Michiko Kodama, January 5, 1984.
7. (www.gonebutnotforgotten.homestead.com/CivilianStory~ie4.html
8. http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/specials/pearlharbor60/chapter3.html
9. http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/specials/pearlharbor60/chapter3.htm Levi Faufata joined the Army and was stationed in Japan during the post-war occupation. Several years later, on August 21, 1958, he and his two sons, Omar 6 and Bruce, 4, were fishing in a rowboat 200 yards offshore of Middle Lock. They had fished there before. On that day, their boat was struck broadside by a 56-foot Navy landing craft. Neither Omar nor Levi was hurt; Bruce was killed instantly. Faufata says he doesn’t dwell on the association. He says, “Mainly, I only feel sorrow.” http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/specials/pearlharbor60/chapter3.html
10. http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/specials/pearlharbor60/chapter5.html
11. In May 1941, Nancy’s father, Charlie Qiyu Arakaki, took his daughters, June and Alice and his son, Henry to Japan to continue their education. Charlie Arakaki owned a trucking business and sold vegetables to several Army bases. Mr. Arakaki was interned at Camp Honouliuli on O`ahu. After the war, Arakaki was released and the three children returned from Japan. (Henry was injured during a bombing of Tokyo.) It was upon their return that they learned of Nancy’s death. www.gonebutnotforgotten.homestead.com/CivilianStory~ie4.html; Honolulu Advertiser, August 28, 1995, p. 1.
12. www.gonebutnotforgotten.homestead.com/CivilianStory~ie4.html
13. Interview with Miss K. Higa HRWD, 50
14. Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 9, 1941, p. 10
15. http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart­_svinth1_1200.htm
16. Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 9, 1941, p. 10; Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 8, 1941, p. 18
17. Hilo Tribune Herald, December 5, 1955; Honolulu Star Bulletin. December 9, 1941, p.1; http://www.gonebutnotforgotten.homestead.com/CivilianStory~ie4.html
18. www.gonebutnotforgotten.homestead.com/CivilianStory~ie4.html; http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart­_svinth1_1200.htm
19. www.gonebutnotforgotten.homestead.com/CivilianStory~ie4.html
20. www.gonebutnotforgotten.homestead.com/CivilianStory~ie4.html
21. Diary of Toriachi Kagihara, HRWD, UH
22. www.gonebutnotforgotten.homestead.com/CivilianStory~ie4.html
23. Mayor Petrie presented the widow of each firefighter with $2000 compensation and a citation from praising her husband’s bravery. The citation read: “Bravery far beyond the call of duty amid a rain of bombs and under withering machine gun attack in an effort to save…and protect…the lives of the people.” (Honolulu Advertiser April 21, 1943, p, 3)
24. Cornelia Fort subsequently joined the Women’s Air Ferry Service and was the first pilot to die in service. Fort’s encounter with a Japanese Zero on the morning of December 7, 1941 has been fictionalized in the movie, “Tora! Tora! Tora!” (http://www.wwii-women-pilots.org/WASP_KIA.38KIA.html) See also: Military Chapter.
25. The Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 7, 1941, 2nd Edition, p. 1 refers to a man killed in front of the Schumann Carriage Dealership [opposite from Washington Place] when the window was shattered. He was identified as Patrick J. Chong of 1457 Fort Street. However, Peter K. Chong is listed as being killed at the home of Eunice Wilson. . The December 8, 1941, Honolulu Star Bulletin, also lists Patrick Chong as the deceased.
26. Arakaki, Leatrice R. and John R. Kuborn. 7 December 1941: The Air Force Story. Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii: 1991, p. 161-176.
27. Kushi Kida, age 25, 55 Cunha Lane, right index finger amputated from bullet. Brought to sampan wharf by U.S. Navy; Riyoro Okoji, age 56, 1349 River Street, brought to sampan wharf by U.S. Navy; Mataichi Ogawa, age 35, 510 Ohui Lane, machine gunned on sampan on high seas, disemboweled; brought to sampan wharf by U.S. Navy. (Information taken from Office of Civilian Defense, Fingerprinting Cards at Kawaiahao Church.)
28. Ibid. The Hawaii Chinese Journal. December 11, 1941. “Unfortunately, we look like the Japanese. We must be on the alert for enemy spies, saboteurs and parachutists, but we must also guard against overzealous unwarranted defense measures against friendly civilians.” The evening of December 7, there were rumors of invading Japanese troops parachuting into the St. Louis and Nu`uanu areas.
29. http://www.nps.gov/usar/PHcas.html December 7, 1941—The Day the Honolulu Fire Department Went to War. John E. Bowen, p. 126 Hawaiian Journal of History, Vol. 13, 1979. the Honolulu Fire Department responded to assist with fires raging at Hickam Field. At 0826 a Japanese aerial bomb was dropped on crews from Engine Co.1, 4, and 6. 3 firefighters, Cpatain John Carreira, Captain Thomas S. Macy, and Hoseman Harry T.L. Pang were killed. An additional 6 were wounded from shrapnel. They were Lieutenant Fred Kealoha, Hoseman Moses Kalilikane, Hoseman John A. Gilman, Hoseman Solomon H. Naauao, Hoseman Patrick J. McCabe, and Hoseman George Correa. In 1944 they all were awarded the Order of the Purple Heart. They are the only civilian firefighters to have received this award.

Then, in 1943 Mayor Petrie presented the widow of each firefighter with $2000 compensation and a citation from praising her husband’s bravery. The citation read: “Bravery far beyond the call of duty amid a rain of bombs and under withering machine gun attack in an effort to save…and protect…the lives of the people.” (Honolulu Advertiser April 21, 1943, p, 3)

Appendix: List of Civilian Dead

Civilian Dead of December 7, 1941 Attack

As a result of the December 7, 1941 attack, there were 1,143 wounded and 2,341 persons killed. Among the deceased were 1,998 Navy personnel, 109 Marine, 233 Army and Army Air Corps personnel and between 48 and 71 civilians.

The first report of civilian casualties was in the Second Extra of the December 7 Honolulu Star Bulletin. Nine casualties were listed, not all were named. Some were referred to simply as, “Unidentified female, 30 to 40; Unidentified, puncture wound left temple; Portuguese girl, 10 years, Caucasian male, 35; Japanese girl, unidentified, age about 9, fur collar on coat only identification.”

The headline on the Star Bulletin’s Third Extra was “Deaths Are Mounting.” In that edition the paper was estimating the military death toll to be “over 400.” That was the last newspaper headline to mention military casualties in terms of numbers.

There is no agreed upon number of civilians who died. The range is between 35 and 71. The National Park Service lists 48 civilian dead at the Peal Harbor Memorial. Of those, 32 are men, four are women, and 12 are children.

Some list Mr. James Akana who was murdered by fellow Office of Civilian Defense Fire Wardens who mistook him for an enemy parachutist.

Some lists include the six Japanese fishermen who were killed by the U.S. Navy because their fishing sampans were mistaken for Japanese spy boats. On December 8, 1941, the U.S. Navy announced that unidentified boats would be fired upon because they might be enemy craft. The local fishing fleet was manned predominantly by Japanese aliens and the military suspected that there could be offshore rendezvous with ships from the Imperial Navy. Documented cases of identified boats were fired upon by patrol planes. Six Japanese fishermen were killed in such attacks. An undetermined number were treated at first aid stations, seven fishermen were treated at Queen’s Hospital (mostly for bullet wounds and burns) where they were held under guard and no visitors were allowed. Upon their release they were determined to be a threat, moved to the Sand Island Relocation Center and defined as POWs. The dead were brought from the waterfront to Hosoi Funeral Parlor. They were: Ogawa Mataichi, Kaichi Okada, Sutematsu Kida, Kiichi Kida, Kiho Uyehara, Riyozo Okogi.

Some lists exclude Philip Eldred because, although he was a Hawaii resident, he was an active member of the Hawaiian Air Department.

Here is a list of civilian casualties compiled by the authors:

John Kalauwae Adams, age 18, wearing Pearl Harbor Employee Badge: No 01876
On the morning of December 7, 1941, Joseph Adams, his son John Adams, and his brother-in-law, Joseph McCabe, attended Mass at St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church in Kaneohe. Both Joseph Adams and Joseph McCabe were active in their parish. McCabe was the CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) Athletic Director.
On the way home from church, the men spotted smoke rising from Pearl Harbor, but assumed it was a drill. While having breakfast, they heard the radio announcement recalling all Pearl Harbor shipyard personnel to the base.
The three men got in Adams’ car. They then picked up McCabe’s nephew, David Kahookele and headed to the base. They drove over the Pali to Honolulu. They were on Judd Street, in front of the home of the Faufata family, when their car was hit by an anti-aircraft shell. All three men were killed. (See note on Matilda Faufata)

Joseph Kanehoa Adams, age 50. See note for John K. Adams.

James Lum Akana, age 60.
Mr. Akana, a Chinese-Hawaiian, was an Office of Civilian Defense Fire Warden on patrol the night of December 7, 1941. At about 11 p.m., Akana was making his rounds in the vicinity of Jack Lane, Nuuanu when was mistaken for an invading Japanese parachutist by fellow Office of Civilian Defense wardens. He was assaulted and beaten to death.

August Akina, age 30. (Also listed as age 37.)
August Akina was a plumber at Hickam Field. Akina and his wife were about to have breakfast the morning of December 7, 1941, when August looked out the kitchen window and saw the planes he identified as Japanese. He told his wife that it was “the real thing” and he was going to go the base. She begged him to stay home, but the phone rang, he was personally called in. While he got dressed, he told her to get his gun. Akina went to Hickam and was killed while fixing the primary water main.

Nancy Masako Arakaki, age 8, (also listed as age 9). 1220 College Walk In May 1941, Nancy Arakaki’s father, Charlie Qiyu Arakaki, took his daughters, June and Alice and his son, Henry to Japan to continue their education. Charlie Arakaki owned a trucking business and sold vegetables to several Army bases. Because of his connections with Japan and his access to the military installations, Mr. Arakaki was interned at Camp Honouliuli on O`ahu. It was not until after the war, when Nancy’s siblings, June, Alice and Henry returned from Japan that they learned of her death.

Some teachers at Chou Gakuen sent their pupils home, others gathered them together in a second-floor classroom. David Arakaki was one of the children who ran home. His sister, Nancy Masako Arakaki, age 8, never left school. She was hit by shrapnel from an improperly fused anti-aircraft shell and died before reaching the hospital.

John Carriera, age 51. Honolulu Fire Fighters, John Carreira, Thomas Samuel Macy and Harry Tuck Lee Pang were killed while fighting fires at Hickam Field. Carreira, age 51, was the Captain of Central Station. Engine 1. Macy, age 59, was Captain of the Palama Station. Engine 4. Pang, age 30, was a Hose Man from the Kalihi Station. Engine 6.

Honolulu Fire Department
Richard L. Young was riding the fire wagon’s rear step of Engine 6.
Lopez recalls, “dead and dying and wounded bodies lay everywhere. …a concrete barracks …were bombed and burning. The underground gas main at had been hit and was spewing flames dozens of feet into the air.

“The military fire engine was on the air ramp, had been strafed. The driver was slumped over the steering wheel, dead. The primary water main was bombed and an enormous crater was filling with water. No water hydrants were functioning. The firefighters were working on the main when the second wave of Japanese attacked.

“Young screamed to take cover and they scattered. For the next fifteen minutes, hell rained down from the skies in the form of whistling bombs and screaming machine gun bullets, seemingly strafing everywhere and everyone.”

After the attack, three firefighters were dead.

Once the dead and wounded were tended, the firefighters returned to their damaged trucks, getting them running again by using brown soap and toilet paper to plug holes in the radiator from the strafing.

Patrick Kahamokupuni Chong, age 30, 1457 Fort Street, janitor at Library of Hawaii.
(The Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 7, 1941, 2nd Edition, p. 1 refers to a man killed in front of the Schumann Carriage Dealership [opposite from Washington Place] when the window was shattered. He was identified as Patrick J. Chong of 1457 Fort Street. However, Peter K. Chong is listed as being killed at the home of Eunice Wilson. The Pearl Harbor Memorial Wall lists an Ernest Chong. The December 8, 1941, Honolulu Star Bulletin, also lists Patrick Chong as the deceased. Patrick Kahamokupuni Chong, age 30, was killed while he was visiting his daughter, Eunice Wilson, age 7 months, at the home of the infant’s mother, Edith Wilson. A shell hit near Edith Wilson’s Punchbowl home killing her daughter and Chong.) Honolulu Star Bulletin, page 1, December 7, 2nd edition. A man was killed on the corner opposite Washington Place (Governor’s residence) when the showroom window of the Schuman Carriage Co. was smashed by a Japanese bomb. bomb fell on the grounds of Washington Place, residence of Governor Poindexter. It created a crater about five feet across and five feet deep.

Philip Ward Eldred, age 36, was with the Hawaiian Air Department. 103 Underwood Ave, Navy Housing, body at Borthwick’s Morturary.

Matilda Kaliko Faufata, age 12. (Also listed in her obituary as13 years, 9 monhts, 15 days.) The Faufata family moved to 802 Judd Street (Also listed as living on 2009 Iholena Street) a few weeks before the attack. According to Levi Moe Faufata, Jr., fourteen years old at the time, the Faufata family thought the planes swooping over the house were part of military maneuvers. During breakfast, Levi Faufata dashed between looking out the kitchen window at the planes and sitting at the table, grabbing bites of French toast. To Levi, the “planes flying low and fire shooting up” was thrilling. Then his father turned on the radio and heard the announcement, “This is the real McCoy!”

Faufata’s father, a Pearl Harbor pipe fitter, sped off to the base, his mother prepared emergency supplies and Levi raced outside to get a better view of the war. His twelve-year old sister, Matilda, stayed on the porch.

Levi Faufata saw a shell hit Adams’ car. The concussion from the blast stunned Levi. The concussion hurled the automobile across the street. Levi’s uncles, and Fata Kekahuna, a neighbor, rushed across the street to help the men; three of the four were already dead, one was mortally wounded.

Levi ran back to the house. He saw that Matilda had been struck in the chest by a shell fragment. She was on the floor near the kitchen. His mother was knelt over Matilda, cradling her daughter in her arms.

I remember thinking, "My sister was dead. Then Mom said a prayer."

Levi remembers his father’s sorrow and anger when his father found out about Matilda. He remembers the family praying together, and “spending that night huddled in darkness in the garage.”See note on John K. Adams.

Clarence Melvin Formoe, next of kin, Seattle.

Rowena Kamohaulani Foster, age 3, Rowena Kamohaulani Foster, age 3, lived on the Pearl City Peninsula. There are conflicting accounts of how she died. One report states that she was playing outside with two boys who were pretending to be hit by shrapnel and falling to the ground, but it is contradicted by others who were there.

Emma Gonsalves, age 34. (Also listed as Mrs. Emma Gonsalves, age 30) 1215 Kinau
Street.

Kisa Hatate, age 41, 994 McCully Street. (Also listed as Hisa Hatate). Kisa’s brother, Toriachi Kagihara, remembers how his sister died. “A shell pierced the side wall of the basement…the exploding fragments flew up and hit my sister on the leg…another brother rushed her to the hospital but she was dead on the way from the loss of blood. By time my brother returned to Hatate’s house, it was burned.

“Freddy” Masayoshi Higa, age 21. (Also known as Hage Higa.) Higa was taken from the Cherry Blossom Saimin Stand to the hosptial. He lost an eye and an arm, but was expected to survive. He died later that day. See chapter on Cherry Blossom Saimin Stand.

Ai Hirada, age 54, wife of Johei Hirada, 9922 Hauole Street.

Jackie Yoneto Hirasaki, age 8. See chapter on Cherry Blossom Saimin Stand.

Jitsuo Hirasaki, age 48. See chapter on Cherry Blossom Saimin Stand.

Robert Yoshito Hirasaki, age 3. See chapter on Cherry Blossom Saimin Stand.

Shirley Kinue Hirasaki, age 2. See chapter on Cherry Blossom Saimin Stand.

Paul Inamine was considered to be one of the most promising prospects of local boxing. He was a flyweight, bantam weight boxer who fought as an amateur from 1939-1941, wearing CYO colors. He turned professional the month before he died. See chapter on Cherry Blossom Saimin Stand. (Also known as Seizu Paul Inamine.)

Robert Seiko Izumi, age 25, 10 Peleula Lane. Izumi is an amateur boxer killed at Cherry Blossom Saimin Stand. See chapter on Cherry Blossom Saimin Stand.
David Kahookele, age 23. See note on John K. Adams.

David Kakookele, age 27. (Also listed as age 23.)

Kushi Kida, age 25, (also listed as Kiichi Kida, age 29), No 2. 55 Cunha Lane, right index finger amputated from bullet. Brought to sampan wharf by U.S. Navy.
On December 8, 1941, the U.S. Navy announced that unidentified boats would be fired upon because they might be enemy craft. The local fishing fleet was manned predominantly by Japanese aliens and the military suspected that there could be offshore rendezvous with ships from the Imperial Navy. Documented cases of identified boats were fired upon by patrol planes. Six Japanese fishermen were killed in such attacks. An undertermined number were treated at first aid stations, seven fishermen were treated at Queen’s Hospital and upon their release were determined to be a threat, moved to the Sand Island Relocation Center and defined as POWs. The dead were brought from the waterfront to Hosoi Funeral Parlor.

Sutematsu Kida, 54, No. 2 Cunha Lane, Japanese fisherman. Brought to sampan wharf by U.S. Navy. See note on Kushi Kida.

Chip Soon Kim, age 66, the oldest civilian to die as a result of the December 7, 1941 attack.
Tomaso Kimura, age 19, was hit by shrapnel in Waipahu
James Koba, age 20. Koba had his legs amputated in the explosion. He was brought to the hospital, expected to survive but died later that day. See chapter on Cherry Blossom Saimin Stand. (Also listed as James Takao Takefuji.)

Tomoso Kimura, age 19, (Also listed as age 10) was hit by shrapnel in Waipahu.

Edward Koichi Kondo, age 19. (Also listed as age 25.) Lielehua Street. See chapter on Cherry Blossom Saimin Stand.

Kamiko Kookano, age 35.

Daniel LaVerne, age 25, was a professional fighter originally from Puerto Rico. He volunteered as a coach for the CYO boxing team. LaVerne came to Hawai`i to be a defense worker and was assigned to the Red Hill underground fuel tank facility. There are conflicting reports about LaVerne’s death. Some eyewitnesses state he was strafed by a Japanese plane.18

William “Issac”K.Y.S. Lee, age 21, was a civilian construction worker. His wife, Emily was eight months pregnant on December 7. She wanted him to stay home that day, but he wanted to work so he could buy her nice things. He was killed that day; his son was born six week later. Tai Chung Loo, age 19, was a civilian defense worker who reported to Pearl Harbor. In the chaos of traffic at the gate, he was thrown from a truck and suffered a head injury and died at the Pearl Harbor Naval Hospital on December 12, 1941, his nineteenth birthday.

Peter Souza Lopes, age 33, 2705 Kamaniki Street, employee Hawaiian Dredging,
member, Eagles Lodge. See chapter on Gussie Ornellas.

Thomas Samuel Macy, age 59. Honolulu Firefighters. Macy was Captain of the Palama Station, Engine 4. See note on John Carreira.

George Jay Manganelli, age 14. George Manganelli, was also known as George Aiyama. (Also George Haruyuki Okada.)

Joseph McCabe, Sr., age 43. See note for John K. Adams.

Tarao, Migita, age 26, Schofield Barracks, Company D, 298th Infantry. (Also listed as 27,
also listed as Taro Migita, also listed as Taro Migii.)

Masayoshi Nagamine, age 27, amateur boxer killed at Cherry Blossom Saimin Stand
Yaeko Lillian Oda, age 6, The last to die was Yaeko Lillian Oda, age 6. Oda lived in an Ewa plantation village. She was hit by shrapnel that lodged in her skull. An x-ray did not reveal the extent of her injuries. Her condition deteriorated and in January 1942 she was taken to Children’s Hospital. She died on February 25, 1942.

Mataichi Ogawa, age 35, 510 Ohui Lane, machine gunned on sampan on high seas, disemboweled; brought to sampan wharf by U.S. Navy. See note on Kushi Kida

Frank Ohashi, age 29, 2705 Kamaniki St., Pearl Harbor Employee Badge No. 6677.

Janet Yumiko Ohta, age 3 months, the youngest person to die as a result of the December 7, 1941. Janet’s auntie, Hayako Ohata, age 21, used her work lunch break to visit her sister-in-law, Kiyoko Ohta, age 19, and Hayako’s infant, Janet Yumiko Ohta, age 3 months. The Ohta family home was on the corner of McCully and King Streets. A shell hit the building killing Kiyoko, Hayako and Janet Ohta.

Kiyoko Ohta, age 21. See note on Janet Ohta.

(A correction to the original post was made on December 8, 2008 per "Katherine" and her comment. Thank you, Katherine.)

Kaichi Okada, 34, 410B Ohe Lane, one of the Japanese fishermen brought to the sampan wharf by the U.S. Navy. See note on Kushi Kida.

Riyoro Okoji, age 56, (also listed as Riyozo Okagi) 1349 River Street, one of the Japanes fishermen brought to sampan wharf by U.S. Navy. See note on Kushi Kida.

Barbara June Ornellas, age 8, known as “Tiny.” 2705 Kamanaiki Street. (Also listed as age 9, also listed as Barbara Jean Ornellas.)

Gertrude Ornellas, age 17, 2705 Kamanaiki Street (also listed as age 15 and age 16)

Manuel Paiva, age 55, found off Fort Armstrong on a row boat with gun shot as being a case of the U.S. Army.”

Harry Tuck Lee Pang, age 30. Honolulu Fire Fighter was a Hose Man from the Kalihi Station. Engine 6. See note on John Carreira.

Richard Masaru Soma, age 22, died from injuries inflicted by strafing from a Japanese plane in Wahiawa.

Francisco Tacderan, age 34, was an Ewa plantation worker, originally from the Philippines.

Oshio Tokusake, age 5, Peleula Lane (also listed as Toku Tokusake), dead on arrival at morgue.

Yoshio “Bunny” Tokusato. Tokusato, age 19, was not a boxer but his brother Paul was. See chapter on Cherry Blossom Saimin Stand. Tohio Tokusake, age 5, Peleula Lane (also listed as Yoshio Tokusaki, also listed as Toku.

Robert H. Tyce, age 38, Tyce, an operator of a filling service at the airport was about to run the propeller on one of his planes when an attacking Japanese plane swooped low, strafing the airport, killing Tyce. Cornelia Fort, age 23, from Nashville, Tennessee, was a flight instructor in the Civilian Pilots Program. On the morning of December 7, Fort was instructing a civil defense worker on routine take-offs and landings. She saw a Japanese plane strafe the runway. She landed and headed to the hangar. “Nobody would believe me when I told them it was an attack until someone came running from another hangar crying that he [Robert H. Tyce] took a bullet.” (Note: Cornelia Fort subsequently joined the Women’s Air Ferry Service and was the first pilot to die in service. Fort’s encounter with a Japanese Zero on the morning of December 7, 1941 has been fictionalized in the movie, “Tora! Tora! Tora!”)

Kiho Uyehara, Kukui and Hall Streets, killed by U.S. Navy on his sampan. See note on Kushi Kida.

Hisao Uyeno, age 20. Also listed as Hiso Uyeno, also listed as Hisayo Uyeno, also listed as age 15.

Ralph August Watson, age 31, 1935 W-2 Kalia Road, dead on arrival at morgue.

Eunice Wilson, age 7 months, daughter of Patrick K. Chong and Edith Wilson. Seen note on Patrick K. Chong.

Alice White, age 42, of 44 Dowsett Tract. Alice White worked at the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association for 14 years where she was in charge of the filing department. She was the wife of Millard D. White, an attorney.

Preparations for War 1939

PHOTO: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii: Workers in the zero temperatures of the cold storage plants of the Naval Supply Depot of the 14th Naval District must wear sheep-lined coats as protection against the cold. Thousands of tons of perishable foods. have been stored. (Hawaii War Records Depository)

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS, 1939

This blog is about stories and daily life, not facts, figures and dates. If it were a book, I could put Chronologies, bibliographies and notes at the end of the book and you could just flip back to check on them, but with a blog, I can't.

I don't want to bore you with facts, but I need to "set a scene" of what life in Hawaii was like before the war. The attack of Pearl Harbor wasn't like the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. New York City wasn't braced for war. The attack was a shock.

In Hawaii, while very few expected the Japanese to attack Oahu, preparations for war were going on. As I said in yesterday's blog, bets were being taken in tea houses and gambling parlors on Oahu and the safest bet was that the Japanese would attack the Philippines on Christmas.

Now, if you're asking yourself where did she get that information, about gambling it's a fair question. I am a librarian by training. I'm also horrid at keeping track of accurate and precise citations. (Really bad)


I read about the betting on the war in two oral histories of U.S. sailors who were stationed at Pearl Harbor, and in an oral history that is part of University of Hawaii's Center for Oral History (which has amassed thousands of pages of text of oral history and no, I can't find the citation.)

I'm going to keep a running bibliography on the blog. But my "Bible" and jumping off point for research was Gwen Allen's HAWAII'S WAR YEARS. It's been reprinted by Pacific Monograms in Kailua, but the original has photographs; it was published by University of Hawaii Press.

OK, so here's a brief chronology of some of the things that were going on two years before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

April
The U.S. Navy staged the biggest war games to date.

May 18
Honolulu’s first black out lasted 20 minutes.

July 17-23
The 13th annual conference of the New Americans, group of AJAs (Americans of Japanese Ancestry) urges expatriation of AJAs in Hawaii.

August 1
The Honolulu office of the FBI reopened to work with Army and Navy on information concerning possible sabotage. (Remember, one-third of the population of Hawaii were Japanese.)

December
The Home Economics Division of the Department of Public Instruction presented an emergency plan to the army on how to feed the public during an emergency. The use of school cafeterias was suggested. (If shipping lanes were blocked due to war, food supplies would have been cut off.)

So, that's two years before the war. In Europe, the war was already waging.

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

How I Got Started

In 1999, I was a librarian at Windward Community College. Around December 7, a colleague of mine, Nanette Napolean Purnell was giving a talk about the civilian dead of Pear Harbor. I had a vague interest in the topic, but I really went to the program to support Nannette--that forty-five minute presentation changed my life.

Nanette began by reciting facts: As a result of the December 7, 1941 attack, there were 1,143 wounded and 2,341 persons killed. Among the deceased were 1,998 Navy personnel, 109 Marine, 233 Army and Army Air Corps personnel and between 48 and 71 civilians.

OK, OK, I sat there, thinking of what I was going to make for dinner. I tried to absorb the enormity of the tragedy, and the numbers she was reciting as actual individuals. But, I couldn't the war seemed like it happened one hundred years ago. It was my father's generation's war.

I knew a little about World War II. I had visited the Arizona Memorial, and my husband was a career Marine Officer. I knew people who had been killed in the line of duty. But they were real people, people I knew. "2,341 persons killed" on December 7, 1941 was only a number.

Nanette went on. She said, "The National Park Service lists 48 civilian dead at the Peal Harbor Memorial. Of those, 32 are men, four are women, and 12 are children."

Children? When I heard children, I perked up. Then Nanette showed slides of downtown Honolulu. I never knew it was "bombed."

Nanette told stories about women my age whose children were killed. Almost all civilian casualties were casualties, not of Japanese bombs as was originally thought, but of shrapnel from U.S. Navy. It didn't matter how they died to me--it's a sin against nature to bury a child.

She told the story of Gussie Ornellas who lost two daughters, a brother and a nephew. I couldn't imagine a more tragic story, until I heard about the Hirasaki family and the Cherry Blossom Saimin Stand. Then there were the Adams and Mc Cabe men, their nephew David Kahookelewho were killed on the way to Pearl Harbor. They were on Judd Street, in front of the home of the Faufata family, when their car was hit by an anti-aircraft shell. All three men were killed. Shrapnel from their car flew toward the house and killed 12-year old Matilda Faufata, standing on her porch.

I won't go on with the stories of the dead. They're too hard to absorb. As I post blogs and intersperse them with quieter, joyful posts.

PHOTO: Gussie Ornellas

Here are the facts on the civilian dead as I have collected:

The first report of civilian casualties was in the Second Extra of the December 7 Honolulu Star Bulletin. Nine casualties were listed, not all were named. Some were referred to simply as, “Unidentified female, 30 to 40; Unidentified, puncture wound left temple; Portuguese girl, 10 years, Caucasian male, 35; Japanese girl, unidentified, age about 9, fur collar on coat only identification.”

The headline on the Star Bulletin’s Third Extra was “Deaths Are Mounting.” In that edition the paper was estimating the military death toll to be “over 400.” That was the last newspaper headline to mention military casualties in terms of numbers.

There is no agreed upon number of civilians who died. The range is between 35 and 71. The National Park Service lists 48 civilian dead at the Peal Harbor Memorial. Of those, 32 are men, four are women, and 12 are children.

Some list Mr. James Akana who was murdered by fellow Office of Civilian Defense Fire Wardens who mistook him for an enemy parachutist.

Some lists include the six Japanese fishermen who were killed by the U.S. Navy because their fishing sampans were mistaken for Japanese spy boats.

Some lists exclude Philip Eldred because, although he was a Hawaii resident, he was an active member of the Hawaiian Air Department.

If you would like to see the complete list, I will post them as CIVLIAN DEAD APPENDIX LIST.

The Introduction

In 1999 I began researching the daily life of women in World War II Hawaii. I wanted to know what my life would have been like if I had lived then. I wasn't interested in military history as much as simple daily events. I've been working on that project off and on, always intended to submit the manuscript to a publisher. However, I've come to realize that that won't happen. That's not saying that the work isn't important--it is. The stories about these women are too important to be lost.I've decided to post the information I've collected without a focus on publication and just talk story with you. That allows me to relax and to tell you about the "why and how and what it took" to get these stories. It allows me to tell you the challenges and obstacles, and about my bouts with blind hero worship. The stories are all grand, and the hero worship continues.