As a teen ager my mother worked as a maid (13 year...

2010-08-21T16:21:04.933-04:00

As a teen ager my mother worked as a maid (13 years) for Juanita Vitousek and her family, including that early morning when Mrs. Vitousek received that phone call from her husband Roy, telling her that the island was under attack by Japanese aircraft. In her diary my mother is mentioned as Miyako. Roy Viitousek asked his wife to move their family to their second home up on the hills of Tantalus, where my mother, Saito (the gardner) and Mrs. Juanita Vitousek witnessed the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
In 1977 Juanita Vitousek met me at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, where I was having my first solo art exhibit. We still have a beautiful water color that was given to my mother as her wedding gift.

Comments on Women of World War II Hawaii: Nuuanu Cemetery/Juanita Vitousek

As a teen ager my mother worked as a maid (13 year...